CHI - Summer 2008 - (Page 72) TIME FOR YOU Family Fitness Healthy tips for moms, dads and kids. AS ADULT WEIGHTS CLIMB to new highs and childhood obesity becomes dangerously commonplace, families are seeking ways to make fitness part of their everyday lives. Video systems, like the red-hot Wii, get players off their chairs to engage in simulated activity like bowling, boxing, tennis or baseball. With the Wii, parents don’t have to tell their kids to put away the video game. Instead, they’re grabbing a control wand and making it the center of some family playtime. Still, families cannot depend on even an active video game to fulfill all of their fitness needs. Play Together Of course, there’s always the old-fashioned way of getting fit. Many parents feel that the best thing about having kids is that you always have someone to play golf or handball with! Rollerblading, swimming, hiking, skiing, snowboarding and even a giddy game of tag can be a great way for family members to spend time together while staying fit. Maybe you still have a hula hoop around. That will pare down the waistline! The easier parents make it—installing a basketball hoop in the driveway, reserving a tennis court on a regular day and time, joining a winter swim club—the more likely the fitness activity will actually happen. “Do as I say, not as I do” was never an effective argument. It makes sense that if you want your kids to stay fit, you should set a good example by being a fit adult. Choose to put the “we” in Wii by participating in activities together. n Get Moving! Health clubs are answering the call by offering appropriate physical activities for kids of all ages. Instead of comprising just a track, a pool and a room filled with treadmills and exercycles, today’s family-focused facilities offer entire families the means to compete in games like volleyball, basketball and racquetball, take an aerobics class together, learn a new skill or just “run wild.” In addition, innovative companies are following the thinking behind the Wii and coming up with fun ways for kids to burn calories. Among the items available from healthykidscatalog.com, for example, are Air Kicks “gravity-defying” boots with springs that help kids run or jog in a bouncing motion. 72 Volume IV, Issue 15
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