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Chris Zellers, MPP- Assistant Professor, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County, Family Community Health Sciences Department
Physical Activity has endless benefits like preventing chronic disease, mood improvement, stress reduction, and better sleep quality and quantity. April is Move More Month and as spring falls upon us with warmer weather and longer days it’s a good time to commit to moving more with your family. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends a minimum of 60 minutes of daily physical activity for children and 150-300 minutes of moderate exercise per week for adults. Adult movement should include two additional days of strength training exercise. Parents who exercise with their children or are active during their child’s informative years set a great example for children to learn the importance of continued movement over their lifespan. As a parent or grandparent if you didn’t exercise a lot when your children or grandchildren were young, it’s never too late to be a movement role model.
When it comes to physical activity, making it fun will make it easy. Enjoy a peaceful walk, take a bike ride, go for a swim or hike for aerobic exercise the whole family can participate in. Bring children along when they are young in carriers or strollers and as they grow let them navigate moving with you. Moving more and sitting less helps adults age well and supports children as they grow into healthy adults. For a fun family friendly activity visit a different trail or park each weekend to explore and learn while moving.
Many cities and towns have bike lanes that make family bicycle riding safe. Bike riding is an aerobic exercise and children should participate in vigorous to intense aerobic activity three times a week. Small local trips to the food market or a friend’s house are good examples of how bike riding can make exercise fun and easy. Cardiovascular or aerobic exercise aids in chronic disease prevention and supports muscles and bone development. Adults should participate in regular moderate to vigorous exercise each week that totals 150-300 minutes or about 30 minutes per day and as we age good cardiovascular conditioning can prevent the onset of chronic disease, sharpen our minds, and help us sleep better.
There is a great big classroom just outside the door and learning while exercising will make children curious and active. Get younger children to count steps or pretend to be an animal like a rabbit or frog to jump. Older children can figure out the length you travel on walks or bike rides. When you get home add up how far you walked or biked and to see how far you go in a week or month. Tracking daily distance creates a goal and lets adults get exercise time while children exercise their minds and bodies.
Stay indoors or exercise in the park or yard by making exercise into games. Sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, hula hoops or balls can be played alone or grouped together to make an obstacle course. Marching and dancing are good indoor and outdoor exercise too, make an at home parade by grabbing some pots and pans and wooden spoons, add some spins and make some good old fashion noise. Dancing moves a lot of muscles and may be more enjoyable for those who don’t like a prescribed exercise routine, it allows free movement and adds music to lift spirits. It doesn’t matter what you do to exercise, it just matters that you move. Doing what interests you and your children will make you more likely to engage in physical activity now and for a lifetime. Discover what is fun and take turns choosing an activity the whole family can do together to create a lifetime of health.