Exercise

Is your child overweight? Make sure here's getting enough exercise.

Most kids have a lot of puppy fat which gradually decreases as they grow older. But this is not always the case. 50% of overweight kids grow up to be overweight adults. And even if such overweight kids do lose weight, it is usually after a struggle, and after they are fed up of being the butt of all fatty jokes. Then begin the rounds of crash diets, which can cause untold damage to the health. If you don't want to see happen to your child, get him started on an exercise today.

Aerobic Exercises

Aerobic exercises are those exercises that gradually increase your heartbeat as you are exercising. It involves a continuous activity over an extended period of time. Aerobic activities are essentially fat burning activities and include:

• Jogging
• Brisk walking
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Basketball
• Cycling

How does it burn fat?

Aerobic exercises increase the heart rate, results in increased oxygen. This increased oxygen combines with fatty cells and burns it away. All your child needs is about half an hour of aerobic activity thrice a week. However, if your child is overweight, he may need to exercise more than his slimmer friends. Aerobic exercises increase the level of metabolism as well which means that your child will be burning fat even when resting!

Anaerobic Exercises

Anaerobic exercises are those exercises that involve short bursts of strenuous exercise, followed by a short period of rest. Anaerobic activities are essentially muscle building activities. They do not directly target and burn fat per se, but they do help convert fat into muscle. Anaerobic exercises include:

• Stomach crunches
• Weights
• Push-up and pull-ups

Stretches

As a rule, you or your child should always do a few stretches before and after. Stretches warm you up, and help prevent injuries like muscle pulls and ligament tears. They also increase your flexibility. Stretches should be done slowly. Hold on to a stretch for a minute before returning to your normal position. Some of the most common stretches are:

• Touching your toes without bending your knees
• Bending backwards and forwards with your hands on your hips
• Neck rotation
• Arm rotation
• Waist rotation
• Stretching your ligaments by leaning forward on one knee and stretching the other leg straight behind you.

Safety Equipment

Does your child cycle? Get him a helmet, knee and elbow pads. You don't want your child to come home with a fractured wrist or elbow, do you? It's better to be safe than sorry. If your child is a swimmer, get him a pair of goggles. Make sure your daughter wears a sports bra, and your son wears a groin protector.

When to Stop

If your child feels dizzy or faint, or if he throws up, it is a sure sign that he is overdoing it. You should make him stop immediately, and give him a glass of nimbu paani (lemonade) after a few minutes.