WE all know that childhood obesity is an ever-growing concern, but how to combat it is a debate that rages.
Should we force our kids to work out every day, or should we leave them alone and hope that they grow to love exercise and enjoy eating their greens?
Well, scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee insist that kids aren’t doing enough exercise to fight the flab.
According to new research, children should be encouraged to do strength-based exercises like squats, pushups and lunges.
Kids need to fight obesity with bodyweight exercises
Scientists examined the findings from 18 studies from eight countries that explored the effects of resistance training on body weight for kids aged eight to 16.
They found it helped to decrease body fat, but had no real effect on lean muscle mass, body mass index or waist circumference.
Rather than simply running around, the research said, taking part in exercises that cause the muscles to contract and grow stronger helps to reduce children’s body fat percentage.
Helen Collins, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh and Sport and Exercise Scientist at the University of Dundee, said the results showed the positive effect resistance training can have on maintaining a healthy weight and reducing body fat for young people.
“Treatment, and more importantly, prevention, of child obesity is a growing concern,” she said.
“Our findings highlight the need for more robust research into the role strength-based exercises can play in helping everyone make healthy life choices and be more physically active.”
Would you enlist the help of a PT to train your children?
Last year, one in five children were classed as obese by the NHS by the time they finished primary school.
And that’s going to cause them real problems; obesity puts us at risk from potentially fatal diseases such as diabetes, cancer and stroke.
But just where do you draw the line in terms of putting kids under pressure to work out?
A few months ago, parents were up in arms a few months ago when a couple posted an ad on a parenting forum for a PT to come and train two children aged six and eleven, for four hours a week.
While most forum members thought the idea of forking out £80 on a PT to put primary school pupils through such a gruelling regime mad, it looks like experts might be more on the couples’ side.
But as kids run around in PE and during playtime, do they really need to start squatting at home too? Wouldn’t it just be enough to get kids to engage in more physical play and fewer computer-based activities?
The most important thing is to make kids enjoy being active
Keith McNiven is the founder of London based PT company, Right Path Fitness.
He told the Sun: “This all comes down to the enjoyment that the child gets from the activity.
“They may really enjoy bodyweight exercises in a gymnastics class, or they may prefer football, ballet or just running around with their mates.
“The main thing is that they are taking part in a healthy activity that they enjoy. If they’re enjoying themselves and having a good time, then it will never feel like exercise.
“The theory behind strength training being more beneficial to combat childhood obesity is probably down to the energy burnt- strength training can be as effective, or even more so, than cardio but for young children, I wouldn’t say that one form of exercise is better than the other.”
And if your kids don’t already do much physical activity, Keith said that there are a few things to consider before you get them planking on the living room floor.
“Firstly, these type of exercises need to be well supervised.
“If a child attends a gymnastics class, then they will be doing squats, lunges, press ups and many other bodyweight exercises anyway – but importantly they are doing them under the supervision of a trained coach.
“Secondly, they should be part of a fun activity rather than a strict training regime so that children learn from a young age that exercise is feel-good activity rather than something to dread.
“Thirdly, it’s about how often the child was doing these activities.
“A weekly gymnastics class or fun session with bodyweight exercises would be fine for most children of primary school age and upwards.”
If your child enjoys (or at least, doesn’t mind) strength training, then Keith said that most kids can do a session once a week.
“Even primary school aged children will usually do some kind of strength training in their PE sessions. For older high school-aged children, and again if they are supervised and like strength training, then a couple of sessions of strength training per week can help them to get stronger.”
So, does that mean that we should start taking our older kids into the weights room at the gym?
Not exactly.
Darren Sealy is the founder of Mindset Fitness, and he told The Sun: “A child is able to do minimal bodyweight exercises but by no means to muscular exhaustion as they have not fully developed in terms of muscular/bone growth.
“The youngest I’d advise someone to start lifting weights would be 16 – and even then, it’d be with light weights. Preferably, I’d want someone to be 18 before pursuing heavier weighted exercises.”
For Darren, “general bodyweight exercises help to strengthen the joints and muscularity – and that’s sufficient in moderation and with appropriate technique.”
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Boys might benefit from lightweight training as testosterone starts kicking in, at around 14 – but only under the guidance of a professional. Anything under that age, they need to stick to bodyweight training.
Darren suggested getting kids to do strength training for no more than an hour a week, and that childen would “100 per cent benefit from exercising with sports, activities and structured programming such as Karate which also teach discipline”.
Of course, the easiest way to get kids interested in exercise is to lead by example – so if you want them to have a healthy future, you’ve got to start moving yourself.
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News Pictures Beat childhood obesity by making kids do push-ups, PTs say – so would you take your child to the gym?
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NINTCHDBPICT000435440157.jpg?strip=all&w=960
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