Posted on February 17, 2010 by Dave W

It is one thing realising you are overweight or obese, it is another thing doing something about it.

If we are not too good at controlling our own weight, how are we supposed to stop our children from becoming overweight or even obese?

Currently in the UK almost two out of three adults and one in three children are overweight or obese.

According to research, unless something is done to address the situation, by 2050 as many as nine out of ten adults and two out of three children could be either overweight or obese.

Evidence now exists which shows that physical activity can improve the future health and wellbeing of our children.

Well, I suspect the majority of people reading this already knew that.

If only researchers could tell us the best way to get our kids off their ever increasing backsides.

Locking their game consoles away will only cause grief and arguments. It’s much easier to have a quiet life and let them get on with whatever they are doing in their bedrooms.

Of course, being responsible parents, we do try our best to get them moving.

In the UK there have been a number of organised cycling events, namely Skyrides, which saw thousands of participants throughout a number of cities with more local rides throughout the year.

This type of thing is great for family exercise and introducing children to the benefits of cycling, but how many kids will go on to use cycling as a means of fitness?

The balancing and jumping skills of a BMX ace could keep their attention for a while, but I suspect the new blood splattered X-Box release will soon have them glued to their monitors before long.

They can now play on-line and ‘kill‘  their mates in a virtual frenzy of war-torn action.

That’s it, eureka, an X-Box that fires real bullets. Problem solved.

You know I don’t mean it!

One area we could take more responsibility is in the monitoring of our kids energy expenditure and calorie intake.

Are you aware of how many calories are in your meals?

A calorie count would be a worthwhile exercise for both yourself and your children.

Assuming our kids are couch potatoes, we know that their expenditure is not great. We can work out how many calories are in our meals and reduce them if necessary.

Try this out for a week. You may be surprised how many calories we are shovelling into our GROWING children.

We owe it to them not to give up on them. Soon they will have kids of their own and so the cycle continues.

It’s a shame it’s not a cycle with two wheels.

Am I being too pessimistic in worrying what our children’s, children’s, children will be like in years to come?

Do you have any tips or tricks you use to get your children active?

Please leave your comments below.

Keep Moving

Dave W

Cycling For Fitness

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