Children’s Fitness: New Global Health Threat in the Form of Video Games?

I’ve talked about World of Warcraft here before and I’ve addressed problems from concerned parents about the amount of time their kids spend playing video games versus how much time they spend on physical activities. Today, I want to take this discussion a bit further and I have my own personal reasons for maintaining my level of concern and this concern is something that I am working on here in my own family. My seven-year-old nephew loves to play this game and plays it at his father’s house a great deal. We can limit his game time when he is … Continue reading

Kid Fitness: Play Now; Pay Later

I told my daughter not to do something the other day and another mother suggested that I was being too protective. I considered her comment for a long moment and then said, “Maybe so, but no matter how flexible she is now and how quick she is to bounce back from hurting herself – if she doesn’t do something right and learn how to do it the right way now – long term stress injuries are going to plague her later.” Maybe it’s because I write about fitness for a living or maybe it’s because I have my own host … Continue reading

Does Your Child Get Enough ZzzZzzz’s?

Tuesday, my daughter wanted to go to school desperately, but she was exhausted. She kept falling back to sleep. Against my better judgment, I went ahead and took her up there, but as soon as she was in her classroom, she kept laying her head down on her table and her teacher and I had the same thought – she was either feeling ill or she was too tired to be there. Either way, I took her back home with me. She napped most of the morning, curled up on the sofa. She napped a part of the afternoon as … Continue reading

Dance Baby! My Daughter & Dance, Dance Revolution

We gave our daughter a Dance, Dance Revolution for Christmas and we picked up two dance pads so that she and my nephew could play together or we could join her. My nephew has played the game before and he had a blast the first time we set it up for him to play with her. Unfortunately, my daughter doesn’t recognize that he has done it before and was pretty intimidated by his ease with the process and that she couldn’t just get it right off the bat. Together, We Stand So yesterday, amongst all the cold and the wet … Continue reading

The Fitness Blog Week in Review – Dec 30 – Jan 5

Is it already the weekend? Hard to believe that we’ve made it all the way to the first weekend of the first month of the New Year and of course, since it’s Saturday, you know what that means – it’s our first Week in Review for 2007! This week, the Fitness Blog is also proud to introduce a new regular blogger who joins us with a great deal of experience. As a part-time yoga instructor, Clarissa Adkins is going to be a real delight for our readers here in the fitness blog as she brings us the wealth of her … Continue reading

Kid Fitness: The Burden of Being a Teenager

Being overweight can be hard on anyone, but it’s particularly hard on a teenager. Remember, teenagers are already under assault from a flood of hormones and social pressures. Too often, when you are different or less than pleasing as a teenager – other teenagers are far from kind about it. I remember once reading an article that detailed high school was a microcosm for the real world with every positive and negative experience heightened exponentially. I Was a Big Teenager I was not a petite teenager. I hit puberty before most of the others. I developed breasts and more. I … Continue reading

Kid Fitness: Take Your Toddler Outside

In our urgency to protect our children from the world, we may go too far and protect them from the environment and keeping them cooped up in the house. We may overdo it and then television becomes a substitute for real experience and it’s important to remember that going outside for your toddler is going to be as hard as getting a bird to fly – they only need one thing: you. Toddlers love the outdoors, they love to go out and play and walk and run and dance. They love the grass and how it feels against their feet. … Continue reading

Fitness Gifts for Kids

So you’re standing in the middle of Toys R Us and you’re staring at this absolute plethora of games, video games, toys, dolls and more. The music overhead is just this side of monotonous and you’re looking down at the Christmas wish list written by your child and the mind just boggles. You want to give your child a great deal of opportunities. You want to give your child the chance at a better world, a better one than you have known and ultimately you want to leave to them what you know. Don’t Just Go for What’s Hot Right … Continue reading

Kid Fitness: Three in Ten Children Are Obese

That’s a terrifying number. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the number of children with obesity in the 6 to 11 year old range has quadrupled in the last 25 years. The American Obesity Association says that three in ten American children are overweight with the highest numbers happening among Hispanic, African-American and Native American children. Obesity comes with it’s own particular health problems including heart disease and diabetes that can continue to affect them throughout their lives and there is a very real belief that obesity could soon top smoking as the most preventable cause of … Continue reading

New Kids on the Climb

My husband enjoys rock climbing. He and friends have periodically made visits to an indoor climbing gym about five or six miles from here where they can go and spend a few hours taking the lazy way up the wall or the hard and arduous way. Rock climbing is a great way to get an overall body workout and for the many people who enjoy the sport – it’s a great deal of fun. Kids on the Move So imagine my surprise when I took my daughter to a birthday party last weekend on and one of the features at … Continue reading