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What you can do at home -- and what K-State is doing -- to encourage healthier, more active living By Michelle Hall
Sandy Procter, coordinator of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in the department of human nutrition at Kansas State University, emphasizes that a child being overweight is never just the child's problem -- it's always a family problem, she says. She recommends parents with children whose weight, activity level or general health has become a problem, ask themselves the following questions: * Am I serving good food at home? * Am I encouraging my child to exercise? * Am I setting a good example through my own eating and exercise habits? "Parents may be telling themselves, 'I'm too busy to think about this,'" Procter says. "But you can't not think about it -- it's too important. You are very much their role model, whether or not you are making conscious choices." If you are noticing that a more active change needs to be made in your family's lifestyle, Bronwyn Fees, an assistant professor in the School of Family Studies and Human Services, says it's important to visit with your children about the change you want to make, set new parameters, follow through with them and be consistent. "This will not happen overnight," she says. "And make sure the active alternatives are appropriate for the age of the child." Procter agrees that changing your family's lifestyle will be an effort at first, but will be worth it in the long run. "You have to model that active lifestyle for your kids," she says. To help children become more active, Procter recommends limiting screen time at home -- setting time limits for the computer and the television. "It's up to parents to perhaps go against the grain and make active choices," she says. "Emphasize how exciting it is and how good it feels to be active." Fees says it's important to think about why you allow your children to watch television: Is it to gain knowledge, entertain? She says the choices parents make on time and content will be directed by the determined purpose of television watching. "When you think about time limits, also think about what your children are not doing while they're watching TV," Fees says. "They're giving up other opportunities for social interaction, exercise." Procter also emphasizes getting involved in various groups and activities, such as Parks and Recreation sports, 4-H or the Boy and Girl Scouts. She cites a friend as an active example: She takes her 4-year-old daughter to K-State women's basketball games where her daughter sees positive, active role models in the players and the cheerleaders. The child is then excited to run, jump and move, just like she saw at the game. "Getting involved is key," Procter says. "Find ways in your family to stay active: Do yard work or walk the dog. Limit places where inactivity will occur. Expose your kids to many activities. Find what you enjoy as a family and keep it varied and fun." Fees says getting children active involves providing them equipment that is age appropriate, as well as the space to engage in activities with the equipment. "Engage with your child," she advocates. "It's much more fun to play with someone." Fees encourages
setting aside at least one or two nights per week to do activities with
your child. And if it's not safe to play outside in your area, "there
are still many active things you can do inside," she says. Fees recommends
becoming creative with hula hoops, soft balls -- even just a line on the
floor can turn into a balance beam, a hurdle to jump or a goal, for example. "You don't have to have a lot of equipment to get them physically engaged," Fees says. "Music is another wonderful tool that children can dance to or march to." The U.S. Department of Agriculture included exercise in their 2000 Edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans for the first time -- and now it's a main point they make. It's also an important principle of nutrition education programs in K-State Research and Extension. They feature a curriculum that highlights children's books with nutrition messages and activity components, for example. Fees recently helped revise a curriculum created in the mid-'90s by the Kansas Nutrition Network and Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities, which is affiliated with K-State Research and Extension. The revision adds dental and physical health to the program, called "Nutrition: Good For You." "We have encouraged children to sit down and be quiet," Fees says. "We need to encourage them to be more active. Children like to be active and learn through physical activity." The curriculum reminds childcare providers to encourage physical activity in the children they care for. One of the lessons in the curriculum, which is taught to child caregivers, is "Let's Move, Learn and Have Fun." Fees and her colleagues added a training video to this chapter to provide information, examples and resources to show childcare providers and caregivers how to provide young children the opportunities to move and play while learning. They videotaped activities at three area daycare facilities. "The idea is to engage children, families and the community in activity," Fees says. The video won the annual Kansas Public Health Association's materials contest in 2002, and Fees says childcare providers who have used physical activity in lessons say children were more attentive to the activities that followed, in addition to enjoying the exercise. Fees says with some prompting, the children recognized the connection between body health and exercise. Procter summed up the message in all of these lessons: "Children need to develop a love of movement early on."
Photo: 'Everybody shouts Hooray:' Logan, 3, leaps in the air at Stone House Child Care Center at K-State. Photo by Dan Donnert, KSU Photographic Services. Summer 2003 |
