How to encourage activity in kids.

We had an interesting minidiscussion today in class regarding obesity in children. Basically, the professor asked us that, given how old she is, what differences have WE noticed since we were kids?

My first thought is how I was a video game junkie. I was and still am a big loser who likes to hang out indoors.

But then I thought further. I was indoors a lot, but it’s not like I disliked being outdoors. I liked being outside. Supposedly this is a rarity amongst children now. I remember shooting around a basketball for the heck of it. I remember playing street hockey. I remember playing badminton in my backyard. I miss mowing the lawn and then going for a swim in the pool. I remember looking forward to shoveling snow. I hear kids don’t offer to do as many things anymore.

Which got my thinking about what kind of childhood I’d want my kids to have. Which really, when I think about it, none of my outdoor activities were influenced by my parents. The moment you start hassling kids to do something is the moment they tune out. I garden because I like it, so to speak. I want to say maybe having the opportunity to do things outside matters, yet I’d swear I was the one that bought a basketball. Though, it was my sister that bought me a hockey stick. Still have it.

Which makes me think that maybe, “kids emulate their parents”, but that isn’t even true, either. After all, my dad bought a snow-blower when I was very content to continue shoveling. Moreover, I seriously don’t go outside enough as it is! Some role model I’d be. Fact is, there just isn’t anything to do. Then again, I live in a condo.

Makes me wonder where my fitness enthusiasm will be when I’m married with kids. Will I be thought of as some weirdo who “escapes” to the gym and goes out jogging in a blizzard, or will my desire for activity blend in seemlessly? Family bike rides. Going to a playground and knocking out pull-ups. Walking to an ice cream parlor. Such simple things can seem so common and everyday when we’re kids, yet I know how these are the things that can shape us. Or at the very least give us something good to look back upon.

Of course, my own interest in fitness was never motivated by my parents. It’s not like I have some childhood memories of me being athletic. Quite the opposite. It was a childhood of being self-identified anything BUT athletic that lead me to challenge myself. Actually, my dad has been trying to get me to come to the Y with him for years, but I thought the whole “working out” shtick was lunacy. I thought, “What’s the point? Move inanimate objects so you can move heavier inanimate objects?” I regarded going to a gym like being on a hamster wheel. What’s hilarious is that my dad isn’t in great shape. He’s a cardio bunny at best, he just uses an elliptical.

So, like all things, expecting our children to be one way or another is a futile effort. Positive efforts can easily have an inverse reaction. Factoring this in, I plan to be restrictively anal about completely random things. Why? Kids gotta have something to rebel against. ; ) Okay, it’s a joke, but seriously.

Which of course doesn’t answer the question of how to get kids to be more active. At best, I think DDR is a good synthesis of activity and electronic entertainment.

Maybe if kids understood the importance of physical activity. Ha. Education? Jesus, doesn’t everybody remember health class? Kids don’t give a flying fuck about learning about the cardiopulmonary system, let alone the adaptations the body can undergo given chronic, moderate stimulus. I hated gym class! And there actually WAS a weight lifting portion! Nobody took it seriously, and I didn’t learn anything.

Okay, I did like volleyball and floor hockey in gym. But that’s it. : D

Demanding independent activities is destined to backfire. But… engaging in common activities has a higher chance of succeeding. I loved playing badminton in my backyard. The aforementioned theoretical FAMILY BIKE RIDE. I’m so campy. Ha ha.

Just thoughts.