(ProActive Sports Rehab offers a weekly column promoting health, fitness and physical therapy. Please be sure to check back each week for a new topic!)
Making a commitment to be physically active is one of the best ways families can prevent or combat obesity and its consequences. Physical therapists support the Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines, which states:
• Children should get one hour or more of physical activity a day.
• Adults should do two hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate-intensity, or one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity.
The following tips were designed by physical therapists to help families stay active and incorporate physical activities into their daily lives:
• Plan weekend family activities involving physical activity, such as hiking, swimming, bicycling, mini-golf, tennis or bowling.
• Help your child plan physical activities with friends and neighbors, such as skating or softball.
• Have your kids brainstorm a “rainy day” game plan of indoor activities involving fitness video games.
• Remember that your family does not need to join a health club or buy fancy equipment to be active. Walking isn’t costly and it’s easy. So is designing a backyard obstacle course. Weights can be made from soda or detergent bottles filled with sand or water
• Provide positive rewards for your child when he or she engages in physical activities, such as workout clothes, a new basketball or an evening of roller skating.
• Provide positive feedback about your child’s lifestyle changes. Remember not to focus on the scale (for you or your child).
• Be your child’s “exercise buddy.” Plan daily walks or bike rides and set goals together for increasing physical activity rather than for losing weight. It’s also great “bonding” time!
• As you schedule your child’s extracurricular activities, remember to plan time for exercise and activity as a priority for the entire family. Don’t just “squeeze it in.”
• Encourage children to try individualized sports such as tennis and swimming. Studies show such activities are the basis of lifelong fitness habits.
• Parents and children can do exercises while watching television (or at least during commercials), such as sit-ups, push-ups, or running in place. Discourage snacking or eating meals while watching.
— American Physical Therapy Association
ProActive Sports Rehab, with offices in Hamburg and West Seneca, offers one-on-one physical therapy and rehabilitation services. For more information, please visit http://proactivesportsrehab.com or call 674-9600 (West Seneca office) or 648-8700 (Hamburg office). You can also follow ProActive Sports Rehab on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProActiveSportsRehab for frequent updates.
