It’s fairly simple. If your child begins their life fit and healthy, they’re much more likely to stay that way into later life. While certain environmental and genetic factors can have an impact on their level of fitness as life goes on, the values you introduce as they grow up will be a significant factor in their attitudes to fitness as adults.
We know that it can sometimes be difficult to get your kids to tear themselves away from the screen, especially in our increasingly technology-driven culture. We know that, in some areas, your kids will very rarely have the weather to go outside and play football, catch or tag. We know that sometimes, after a long day of school, the last thing your kids will want to do is go outside and run around. We’re here to help with that.
The solution? A quick, simple fitness regime that can be done anywhere, for just a few short minutes every day. With Fit Kids, all you need is your kid, a book and 11 minutes. So what are you waiting for?
Why Is Exercise Important?
We are currently living in a society where a third of all children between the ages of 10 and 11 are either obese or overweight (Public Health England). This is a state of affairs which could have been very easily avoided, had the necessary information been spread a little further. Introducing frequent exercise and education on how to stay fit and healthy is just one of the many steps we will have to take to try and recover from this growing problem.
We don’t want to be told that we’re killing our kids – of course we don’t. But the uncomfortable fact is that by giving our children too much sugary food and drink and not enough physical exercise, we are creating the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. With physical inactivity acting as a major risk factor in the development of coronary artery disease, stroke, obesity, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol and diabetes, it becomes clear that something needs be done to change the way we approach physical fitness.
Fitness In The Curriculum & Beyond
In order to get children interested in anything, it needs to be fun and enjoyable, and this applies to exercise as much as anything else. The exercises explained in Fit Kids can be incorporated into the school day any time, anywhere. They can be used to re-energise children in the middle of a slow lesson, or they can be involved as an important part of the school curriculum through any range of different subject. Most importantly, they are fun, and they work.
Fit Kids from BX Plans will show you how to introduce exercise:
- As part of assembly or at the start of the school day;
- As a mid-morning energiser;
- As part of a lesson;
- As a charity fundraiser;
- As an opportunity to develop leadership skills;
- As a community project, and
- As a social activity.
Checking Progress
One of the many key factors that sets the BX Fitness Plan apart from other methods is that it will give children the ability to recognise their own progress as they move through the various levels of achievement set out by the plan. Your child will learn that the ability to complete a greater number of exercises in the same amount of time shows that their aerobic fitness, strength and flexibility are improving. This will both teach your child about the science involved in fitness and will give them a greater sense of confidence and pride.
As your child progresses through the plan, they will have a strong sense of getting fitter. They will feel more active, be able to exert more energy, and will feel stronger, healthier and better in general. The changes that take place in their body will be clear for their friends and family to see, so everyone can share in their sense of pride and achievement. Your child’s new-found agility, flexibility, strength, energy and confidence will all help to improve their ability to learn and play.
If you introduce the BX Fitness Plan as part of your classes in school, it can be interesting to involve more scientific means of measuring fitness as part of your lesson plans. Fit Kids will give you some examples of how to teach children about their changing bodies by using:
- Pulse rate;
- Tests to demonstrate muscular strength (upper body);
- Tests to demonstrate muscular strength (core/abdominals);
- Tests to demonstrate flexibility, and
- Tests to demonstrate aerobic fitness.
Healthy Eating
Exercise isn’t the only factor you need to consider when you begin creating a healthy lifestyle for your child: the food they eat also plays a key role. While the right nutrition is important for everyone, it’s especially important for children as their bodies are constantly changing, growing and developing. Both exercise and healthy eating are important for children, but a combination of the two will make your child unstoppable.
Just like introducing a healthy attitude to exercise, educating your children in the importance of healthy eating is a vital practice which will affect the way they choose their diets in later life. The more varied and healthy their diet is as a child, the less likely they are to live off chips and toast as an adult.
The BX Fitness Plan will introduce a set of key rules that will help you in your journey towards enjoying a cleaner, healthier diet with your child.
For more information on Fit Kids, check out our website – www.fitin15.org.
Do you want to join your children in getting fit? We also have fitness plans for men and women!
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