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Home › Articles › Health › Walk the Walk

Walk the Walk

Teach Your Preteen by Doing

By Kelly Coyner

Pages:  1  2  3  

While you scoop out the last of the potato chips with one hand and check the offerings on television with the other, you note that your 12-year-old son is totally mesmerized by his new X-Box game. You tell him to go outside and get some exercise, but the only movement you see is his fingers on the controller. You spent all day behind the computer at the office and now you are busy with everything that has to get done, making dinner, paying the bills, calling your parents and organizing playdates. You try to get your fifth grader into her soccer gear and out the door. She complains all the way; she hates soccer. You are about ready to give in and let her stay home.

According to Dr. Mary Gavin, medical editor for KidsHealth.org and co-author of Fit Kids: A Practical Guide to Raising Active and Healthy Children – from Birth to Teens (DK Publishing, 2004), your kids are typical preteens and no longer want to participate in organized sports. "Most kids drop out because they are no longer enjoying themselves, so parents can play an important role in helping their child find an activity they will enjoy," she says. "The message should be that it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you are doing something to be active every day."

What You Can Do
Like so many things with kids, getting preteens to engage in physical activity requires persistence, flexibility and literally walking the walk. According to leading fitness expert Kelli Calibrese, preteens may not acknowledge it, but they still watch their parents and follow their lead. The key is to rethink the ways you can support physical activity. Don't insist on organized team sports. Instead, think about how you set the stage for physical activity. Here are some ideas: