Diet and Fitness

Article written by Rob Stone

The world in itself has more overweight people now than even ten years ago, with many of it stemming from bad habits and not always bad information as most adults know what is good or bad to feed children.

AS a child I remember eating many things that even as a kid I knew were wrong but did not see the long term effect for later in life. It was not until I got to college then I realised how a little a day or something you are not supposed to have can soon add up. This is still the case with many children to this day, they can have chocolate, crisps per day but that per day portion adds up. Before you know it, you have a range of overweight kids at school who have low confidence and can easily be picked on.

This is where exercise, especially with outdoor toys can benefit children a tremendous amount. Not just for their physical appearance and fitness level but also for their confidence and self esteem. At a young age, children do not realise that loosing even a few pounds in weight can feel great, improve that confidence that they may lack and become a happier kid at the same time.

One of the easiest ways to get children into this way of thinking is with a large outdoor toy such as a trampoline or climbing frames. These maybe pretty standard toys for the garden compared to the multitude of toys available to date but they have been tried and tested for years and still come out top.

For the human body, the movement they are constantly achieving through bouncing or climbing is tremendous. The muscles in us all need oxygen to work, cleanse the body of waste which all benefits from exercise, even if it is 30 minutes a day. The lymphatic system of the body benefits from fresh air dramatically with it being said my many medical practitioners that daily moderate exercise no matter what the age helps to become resistant towards everyday colds and illnesses.

Within the scope of outdoor exercise for children brings the long-term benefits of moderate exercise. Muscles in themselves become more toned and grow in conjunction which in turn, burns more calories a day which helps assist in keeping children trim and not obese.

It is not just what children look like on the inside either. Fat can also build up inside and effect organs of the body such as the heart so even if a child looks slim, inside they maybe in need or a change of eating habits.

This is not to say children should be strictly eating vegetables, fruit a day and nothing else. A treat day is a easy way to relearn eating habits and to educate children why this is the case. As parents, it can be very important to lead by example so make sure you eat the same as them. Healthy parents can lead to children much easier than if we do one thing and say another.

Rob Stone writes articles on subjects from Health and Fitness to Children’s Toys such as garden trampolines.