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Fitness | Medications | Complications | Well-Being | Coping | Live and Learn
Child’s Play
How to get kids to exercise | By Tracey Neithercott
With seemingly limitless energy, children should be models of physical fitness. Yet in today’s world it can be hard to persuade a kid to exercise for 10 minutes, let alone the hour a day recommended by the government. That’s
a problem: According to a 2014 survey by the nonprofit National
Physical Activity Plan Alliance, only a quarter of U.S. kids between
the ages of 6 and 15 are at least moderately active for an hour daily
on at least five days a week.
It may seem easier to let reluctant kids remain sedentary, but
exercise’s benefits are too great to overlook. Physical activity in
children reduces the risk of obesity and is linked to a lower risk
for heart disease in adulthood and type 2 diabetes in childhood
or adulthood. It improves bone health, motor control, mental
health, and well-being. Studies have also shown that active kids
do better in school.
Understanding that exercise leads to good health won’t
necessarily motivate kids to get moving. That’s partially because
modern technologies make for very strong distractions. “As soon as
your child walks out the door, the world is making it extremely easy
for your child to be overweight,” says Melinda Sothern, PhD, an
exercise physiologist at Louisiana State University School of Public
Health and author of Trim Kids: The Proven 12-Week
Plan That Has Helped Thousands of Children
Achieve a Healthier Weight.
So how can you pry your child’s
fingers from the video game
controller and get him or her to
exercise? Read on for eight ways to
motivate kids to move.
1MAKE IT FUN Young children tend to get physical in short bursts of activity. A 2013 study
published in the journal Obesity found that
most children exercise in spurts that
average less than five minutes. Sothern says
that for children under 12, intermittent play
(such as a game of tag) is ideal and may
prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes. And
“play” is the important word—young kids
don’t want to work out or exercise; they
want to have fun.
2TAKE IT OUTSIDE Indoor activities can make kids weat, but for the best workouts,
bring them outdoors. “Outdoor play is
associated with every health benefit there is
for children,” says Sothern. Kids who live
near parks, for instance, are five times less
likely to be overweight than kids who don’t
live near green spaces.
Kids exercise harder and longer when
they play outdoors, so encourage them to
participate in a soccer game, run around a
playground, or ride a bike around the
neighborhood. Even quieter activities such
as gardening count as exercise.
3PLAN FOR RAINY DAYS For young children, Sothern suggests creating an “imagination station” in
your home filled with toys for indoor play.
Even the most basic activity can spike kids’
heart rates: Blow up a few balloons, then
tell children to make sure they don’t touch
the ground.
Certain video games, such as Wii Fit and
Dance Dance Revolution, can get kids’
hearts pumping. Older kids can follow along
with exercise videos. And everyone can
dance. “For children, it’s one of the best
activities there is,” Sothern says.
Read about inspiring athletes with
diabetes at
diabetesforecast.org/PWD. Click
