Simple Ways to Ensure Your Children Stay Fit and Healthy – Lee Prazer

It is natural for any parent to be concerned that they give their children the best possible start in life and that includes ensuring they grow up to be healthy. Part of that of course means being brought up in an environment that encourages healthy eating and frequent exercise. But how much exercise is appropriate for your little ones, the NHS and Change4Life provides good guidelines.

Babies, who can’t even crawl should still enjoy active time throughout the day, reaching, grasping, pulling and pushing, supervised floor play including tummy time is fantastic for them.

Once children can walk independently they should be physically active for at least 180 minutes every day, including outdoor activity. This 180 minutes can include light activity such as moving around, rolling, standing up and more energetic activity like hopping, running and jumping.

Lee Prazer, a Personal Fitness Instructor advises that children’s skeletal structures are still forming and therefore care is needed not to incur any long term damage, they are exceptionally flexible and can over stretch. He therefore suggests that it is best to use common sense and most importantly to make any form of physical activity fun. Whatever the weather there are always ways to keep your child active, even in the winter months wrap up and visit your local park to go for a walk, a bike ride, or better still visit a park you have never been to before. Go swimming as a family, the younger the children start the better. Even if it is pouring with rain, put on some music and dance the day away. Think creatively but please do take care, if you think your child needs more structured exercise it is best to go to the GP for a referral or join a child led group with a specialist fitness instructor.

Above all, remember you are role models for your children, so if you would like them to grow up with a love of exercise they need to see you participating in sporting activities.