家庭健康与健身

而不是在家让儿童游戏，当您去体操时，考虑实施为大家是乐趣和健康的家庭健身惯例。家庭健身和营养节目的好处可能产生直接和长的期限好处。And, with the obvious health benefits, getting moving with your entire family also promotes strong bonding, healthy competition, and many other positive psychological effects and lessons too.

Family Wellness

The goal is to build a foundation that will last our kids a lifetime. We are using their formative years to build healthy habits that will help them maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle that they can take with them throughout the rest of their lives.

Along the way, we want to take the time to build memories that will last a lifetime as well.

Be a Role Model

Lynn Pantuosco-Hensch, D.P.E. & Paula Welch, M.P.A. writes that “Learning to be physically active is like any other behavior: children learn by observing, and parents are children’s first and often best role models (1)” Nutritional and physical habits can be instilled during the foundational years of a child’s development and set the stage for good habits the rest of their lives.

The same article suggests that organized activities are a great way for children to build teamwork and skillsets. Children who participate in family activities are more likely to develop a lifelong interest in fitness and physical activity and healthy habits. Those habits can develop cognitive and social skills (2).

Set Goals

By using fun family activities, parents can take the opportunity to teach skills like goal setting, and teamwork. Your first goal should be to introduce the appropriate amount of exercise each day. Health.gov suggests that children up to the age of 17 should get upwards of sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day (3). Adults should get up to thirty to forty-five minutes of activity. Remember that any activity is better than inactivity.

Along the way, establish and model healthy eating behaviors with your family. In addition to physical activity, nutrition is the other critical component of family health and wellness.

Develop Good Nutritional Habits

It is easier than you think to instill good eating habits. Groups like the American Heart Association (AHA) can help guide your steps along your journey with some daily tips to help your family eat better (4). WebMD.com provides a grocery list to help you know what to choose (5).

Involve your children. Let them choose healthy items from the grocery list that they like. Let them help in the kitchen. If you have access to local produce, introduce your family to local farmers. In addition to being a fun family outing, it teaches your children how food is made and where it comes from.

Walking, Biking, Hiking

Go for a walk. Ride bikes. Pack everyone up to go hiking. Fitness routines can take many forms. From the ordinary to the silly, scavenger hunts to dance parties, driveway mazes to pillow fights, be active with your family and have fun.

Obstacle Courses & Sports

Set up an obstacle course in your backyard. Get a volleyball or tennis net. Or play basketball. There are so many sports activities that can be played with just a few people or larger groups. It will help everyone unwind, have fun together, and create some excellent conversations during those healthy dinners!

In addition to making the whole experience more enjoyable, sports psychologist Jocelyn Prenna says that “Families who are able to approach challenges together with an optimistic outlook can develop strong conflict-resolution skills and become more resilient (6).”Besides the physical, mental, and cognitive benefits that this type of activity can provide, lifelong memories are created.

Yoga & Stretching

These activities can be done at any time of day inside the home so that makes them easy to implement and maintain. When younger kids are a bit too wound up, challenging them to do some yoga poses or to touch their toes, can help calm them down. Plus, children enjoy witnessing their abilities and getting better at things.

Camping, Crystal Mining & Outings

Be sure to engage in a lot of unexpected fun that keeps everyone active. Camping is a perfect weekend-long activity with plenty of walking, swimming, lifting, and more. You might also look into mining for crystals near your area. There are certain places where you can discover these natural wonders safely. For example, Ace of Diamonds Mine & Campground in NY uses their bulldozer to break away smaller rocks which families can bust open to find quartz crystals.

Family Health Statistics

The numbers are alarming.

Less than one in four adults meet suggested levels of physical activity regularly.
Less than one in five high school age students meet their suggested levels of activity on a regular basis either.
This leads to more than $117 billion dollars in additional health care costs each year (7).

Obesity is a real problem facing Americans. While many of us think of the increased levels of obesity in adults, there are some even more concerning numbers regarding childhood obesity. More than 13.7 million children are obese affecting 18.5% of American children (8).

Children 2 to 5 years average 13.9 percent obese.
Children 6 to 11 years average 20.6 percent obese.
Among children 12 to 19 years old, obesity is 20.6 on average but can be as high as 25.8 percent.