Friday 26th October - Family Fitness = Family FUN

I was recently asked to be part of a recorded series from a colleague about family health. When I was considering being involved in this, I was reminded of all the experiences that I had had while I was involved in the Body Mechanics tour across the United States and also the many families that we met during the "testing phase" of our animated movie and interactive DVD game.

During that 12-15 months I met some amazing people (both adults and children) who told me of their life experiences and more importantly their life challenges.

Their "challenges" were what interested me the most because they ranged from not being able to find the time to play with their children; it being so expensive to eat healthy food (even buying fruit and vegetables and definitely if you shop organic); both parents working long hours to meet financial commitments; single parent families; divorced situations where one parent does the "right thing" and the other parent who just wants "nutritional peace";

It isn't always just a simple solution and not all the excuses are poor parenting which I often hear from "other experts". We live in difficult times so there will be no quick fix and add to that the confusion that most parents feel about their own dieting dilemnas and you have some real problems.

So let's look at a few of the reasons and see if we can address some possible scenarios that could help parents to cope.

Shopping for healthy food is indeed more expensive than getting take-away fast food. It is true and I agree with that fact. If you see any of the Marketing hype around TV and print advertising there is an unfair advantage and of course throw in some sort of "bargain deal" and it will beat the cost of fruit and vegetables everytime.
However it becomes a larger issue when the health of the family is being constantly "plagued" with poor nutrient quality.

This WILL definitely lead to health issues and I want you to think of it as being "pollution for your Human E.C.O. System because that pollution becomes toxic to your internal organs causing disease. Now do you want to make this "sometimes food" the staple intake for your children and affect not only their health and learning outcomes but cripple their future as well. There are healthier options now being provided in the "faster food" category but these tend to get lost in the advertising promotions.

I always ask parents "would you willingly pollute your local area ?". When they say "no", I reply "then don't allow pollution into your children on a daily basis".

Parents are working longer hours but as we can't add anymore hours in the day what we can do is try to plan (not structure) our weekends to include a little outdoor play. Such as teaching your children to play hopscotch (minimal investment of a piece of chalk). Mothers and fathers can be the "home activity leaders / personal trainers" and all you need to remember is how to "play" like when YOU were a kid. Another one that we found really successful on the tour was JumpRope. In no time at all everyone is getting a cardiovascular activity that is FUN.

Another easy option is to get your children outdoors by going for a walk / run while they ride their bikes. You are all getting the chance to be together and improve the health of the family. Who knows, you might even start to like it. These are easy ways to get the whole family moving more. For this one take water and snacks and you have a "rolling picnic".

If you want more ideas then get in touch or better still think back to when you were a child and remember what you did to amuse yourselves.