With the growing problem of childhood obesity and poor diet, child fitness programmes are becoming much more popular with parents. A sedentary lifestyle – with some children spending hours a day playing computer games and watching TV – combined with less exercise and lots of junk food can lead to excess weight and health problems.

Excess weight in children causes problems both now and later in life. Health issues include high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. There are also psychological and social consequences, including depression, low self esteem and bullying.

Of course, it’s important to make any child fitness exercises fun and entertaining! Children love to play games, so it’s just a matter of finding a way for them to engage with their children’s fitness programme.

Child fitness – ideas, exercises and activities

Let’s face it – you’ve got a lot to compete with when trying to get a child to take part in a fitness programme! Computer games, television, DVD players, portable games consoles, mobile phones, social networking sites, the Internet – all of these things offer tantalising distractions to the average child and can be very hard to avoid.

However – there are ways to get a child fitness routine up and running without an uphill struggle. Try the following suggestions:

• Set a good example – start jogging, playing sport and exercising yourself.
• Take the family on activity days and holidays that involved outdoor games and adventures.
• Find a local club for a sport or active hobby, such as football, martial arts, swimming or rock climbing. Try and find something that your child can relate to and enjoy.
• Put things in your garden that encourage children’s fitness activity, such as goal posts, a basketball net, a trampoline or a badminton net.
• Try and limit your child’s time per week spent watching TV or playing computer games.
• Incorporate physical activity into your daily routines, including chores, walks to the shops, cycling to school etc.
• Look into joining local scouts, guides or venture scout troops.
• Take an active interest in your child’s physical fitness at school. If they show an interest in a sport or become part of a team, try to make it easy for them to practice with them and attend games.

Remember – child fitness habits you build in your child at a young age will likely stay ingrained for the rest of their lives. 80% of children who are overweight at 10 are overweight in adulthood.

Child fitness – using a personal trainer

In some cases you may want to consider helping your child to get healthy by using a child fitness personal trainer. These experts will work alongside you and your child to build a tailor-made child fitness programme covering everything from exercise routines to diet plans.

Teaching children requires an extra level of expertise and experience, with skills in developing fun, healthy activities.

Contact us to find out more about our network of children’s fitness personal trainers.