Marc Wellness International Blog

How can I motivate my children to exercise? I have a 5 year old and a 8 year old and they like to play but prefer to play indoors on their video games. Melinda, Surfers Paradise   Be active yourself first! - If you want your children to become interested inexercise it is important for them to see you participating in activity.  Be a good role model - as a parent introduce family activities in the home, in the backyard or having fun at the local park or pool.   Show them - It is important to show your kids how to be active and play games or activities with them, show them how it is fun! Either play games at home like tip your in, frisbee, jumping on the trampoline or try taking the kids out to try something different like hiking, bike riding, rockclimbing, in-line skating. Take action - If you want your kids to be healthy, happy and then grow into adults with healthy habits, you need to take action and make activity part of your everyday lifestyle.     Rewards System -  Use a star chart system to keep the motivation going.The star chart system is where you write all the families name on a chart and reward your children with a star if they are for example keeping active through play, encouraging their siblings, interacting in sports or activities at school or home, eating their vegetables at dinner (this works particularly well with younger children).  I have a five year old who just started school this year should I put him on an exercise program to keep him fit and healthy? Ben, Palm Beach We prefer to use the word ‘activity’ rather then exercise when it comes to children. Kids need to be active, the benefits of being active include:increases skill development, balance and co-ordination, increase confidence and self esteem, builds strong muscles and bones, assists in healthy eating, great for socialization and making friends.  Children can be active through playing games and sports. What we need to remember is kids are not adults, so they don’t need to be on a cross trainer at a gym for an hour to gain exercise. For a five year old he should be getting outside and keeping active through sports and playing games like tip your in, stuck in the mud, throwing and catching a ball, riding bikes, kicking a football, hopscotch. Whatever sports or activities kids are interested in are the best ones to play with them at home or at a local park. Organised local club sports are also great for socialisation and skill development. For school aged children 60 minutes of planned physical activity and 60 minutes of active movement are recommended daily. Their activity can be broken up and doesn’t have to be done all at once. Such as planned activities, can be activities such as school sport, club sports, organized sports. Active movement are activities they can play with their friends at lunch, after school or active time at home.Have a wonderful weekend! Richard & Joey Marc