I love autumn: the cool and clean of the air, the turning of the leaves, the pumpkins, the mums, the start of the school year, with new shiny notebooks and clean backpacks and the opportunity to get up every morning and pack lunches for school…obviously, I’m kidding about this last one, but everything else is true. Autumn is also the time where a lot of mothers get their groove back with respect to exercising. Over the past few weeks, I have heard numerous moms on the playground after school or who are bringing their kids into my office for check-ups, talk about their own plans for exercise this fall.
As a pediatrician and the mother of two active boys, I strongly believe in the benefits of regular exercise for all of us. I’m not just talking about carting your kids to soccer; I’m talking about taking the time to do simple things which allow your kids and you to move together. Most kids (and adults) are happier, calmer and better behaved after engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activity. I know my kids are, and so am I. We concentrate better. We sleep better. We are generally less stressed. But there’s a much more urgent, compelling reason to pay attention to this: given the ever-increasing incidence of obesity in this country, it behooves all of us to figure out how to better incorporate physical activity into our daily lives.
Obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. Recent statistics indicate that almost 60% of our adult population is overweight or obese. The National Institute of Health reports that the number of overweight children has more than doubled over the past 20-30 years; over 12.5 million children, or approximately 17% of children ages 2-19 years, are overweight. Many of these children will develop numerous complications of obesity, such as Type 2 Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and other chronic illnesses. Some researchers have predicted that if this epidemic of obesity continues at its current pace, today’s generation of children will actually have a shorter lifespan than that of their parents. In my own practice, I am seeing more and more overweight children, regardless of income or race, and the scary thing is that many of these kids have parents who are not overweight.
So what are we to do? We want to figure out how to keep our kids healthy now but also to teach habits that will last a lifetime in promoting good health. Whether our kids are overweight or not, most of them could probably get more exercise. The recommendation is that children get at least an hour of vigorous physical activity per day, and believe me most of them are not getting that at school, given ever-shrinking recess time. As parents, we could all stand to get a little more exercise too, even if we are already active. But we’re all so busy, whether working outside the home or staying at home full-time, whether single or sharing the responsibilities of parenting with a partner. As a working mom who frequently feels as if I don’t have enough time, I’m an intense advocate of keeping it simple. These strategies may be helpful:
1. Turn off the tube. Numerous studies document the relationship between obesity and T.V. time. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends avoiding television altogether in children less than two years of age and limiting media time (including T.V., DVDs and video games) to no more than one to two hours a day for older children. We happen to have a rule in our house that there is no television on school nights (I know it sounds drastic, but it actually keeps things simple because there’s no energy spent on negotiating). This automatically leaves more time for playing outside and moving, as well as games and imaginary play, not to mention more efficiency with getting homework done and getting to bed on time.
2. Walk instead of driving short distances. Depending upon where you live, try walking to school, to the store, to friends’ houses, to the park, even for no particular reason around your neighborhood or town. Not all the time, but at least some of the time. Interestingly, walking actually helps us to slow down and notice things that we might not notice in the car, like those perfect, bright red leaves that end up on the sidewalk. This can be a nice antidote to the frenetic pace that most families keep these days. Walking instead of driving everywhere also teaches our kids that it really is sometimes possible to get from point A to point B without getting in the car (thus reducing our carbon footprint, another life lesson that we should be addressing as parents).
3. Commit to active family time. Set aside some time each week for doing something fun with your kids that involves moving together. It can be something as simple as going to the park, or taking a hike or a bike ride. Letting your kids help choose the activity helps them to feel more invested in it. By spending time together in this way, we give our kids the message that exercise and fun can go hand in hand, and hopefully we’re helping them to find activities that they’ll enjoy throughout their lives, in addition to creating some good memories of family time.
As parents, we all want the best for our kids. Some of the more valuable gifts we can give them are tools for making good choices in their lives, staying healthy and taking care of themselves, as well as others and their environment. With the start of the new school year, why not commit to making a bigger effort to be active as a family? Put that on your list.