Solving Childhood Obesity Is A Family Affair

Parents dictate their childrens future... statistics show us parents are failing at encouraging their children to have healthy lifestyles. Studies have shown that it is the responsibility of parents to provide guidance and inspiration for their children to pursue healthy and active lives. It is the environment that children live in home that will ultimately determine their pattern of eating, activity levels and attitude towards pursuing a healthy life. We can remove all the dessert bars; soda and junk food machines from the schools and children will still continue to eat improperly. Parents or guardians must take responsibility and maintain a healthy example for their children to establish a healthy physical, psychological and emotional lifestyle.

Poor nutrition and a lack of daily exercise have been the leading causes of the rise in health problems and the decrease in academic achievement amongst children. In addition, children will develop emotional and psychological problems that will manifest throughout the rest of their lives. Its a common understanding that you cannot put a price on ones health, but when bad habits begin to lower the quality of life and you can quantify the result in lower income and increased medical costs, it becomes very real. Thus, demanding the need to find a solution.

Kids are more physically active when their parent encourages and supports that interest. Such support boosts children's positive attitude toward exercise as well as their interest in organized sports. And when you participate in free-time physical activity with your daughter or son, you increase her or his enjoyment of unstructured fitness fun.

You don't have to excel at any sport to accomplish the necessary changes to improve your childrens health. Try these ideas for playing and being active together:

Take a family bike ride or walk. Find nearby trails, tracks or safe routes for all ages in your group. On weekends, when you have more time, plan rides or walks at sites farther from home to keep up interest.
Reduce the time your kids spend inactivewatching TV and DVDs, playing computer games, even at the movies. Substitute active entertainments such as swimming, bowling, going to the roller or ice rink, visiting the zoo.
Play games outside with your kidseverything from hopscotch and jump rope to hide-and-seek, basketball or badminton. Don't worry about what the neighbors will think.
Play physically active games indoors with your kids. Treasure hunts, dancing, ping-pong, even yoga can keep the family moving when the weather makes staying inside necessary.
Consider getting a family membership at the local "Y" or community center. These facilities give you opportunities for several kinds of play and often have special parent-child activity sessions.

If you belong to a health club or gym, find out if your adolescent or teenager is eligible to join. Then you can exercise side-by-side on various types of equipment. Be sure to have a trainer show your child how to use the machines and set up an appropriate workout program for him or her.

Obesity has so many ramifications. It contributes to higher incidences of cancer, specifically kidney cancer, and orthopedic complications, due to the excess stress on bones and cartilage. Diabetes alone costs about $130 billion a year. The disease can cause blindness, kidney failure, strokes and heart disease.

Experts with the International Obesity Task Force estimate that 22 million of the world's children under 5 are overweight or obese. The organization estimates that 300 million people worldwide are obese and 750 million more are overweight.

Genetics is not always fair and some people have more trouble staying lean than others. However, it is only recently that having a body that tended toward staying lean was any kind of advantage. Through most of history survival depended on being able to store as many calories as possible against times of scare resources or famine. So the modern body evolved to cope with times of scarcity not times of plenty - and we have the genes to prove it.

Unfortunately, given our lifestyle that provides huge amounts of easily available calories and very little exercise it is inevitable that people will tend to gain weight. The solution is for parents to teach their children to eat less, eat better and exercise more, that is not always easy, but many things that are simple are not easy.

Mike Torchia is a nationally-recognized health and fitness expert who specializes in children's fitness. He is the founder and president of Operation Fitness, a program designed to improve health and fitness among America's young people.

More information on childhood health and fitness issues and programs can be found at Mike Torchia's Operation Fitness information page

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How to Improve Your Body, Mind and Spirit By Practicing Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga is a 5000 year old system that is used to improve the health of your body, mind and spirit. Hatha yoga combines the stretching exercises of the asanas. Breathing techniques and mental concentration are included in hatha yoga.

The lotus position of the asanas is used in hatha yoga. The goal of hatha yoga remains the same as that of the other types of yoga. The goal of hatha yoga is to blend the spirit of the universe with that of the human spirit. The spiritual, mental and physical health aspects are improved amazingly with the practice of the Hatha yoga. It also gives you peace of mind and improves your concentration. Concentration is the root ingredient of any yoga and its success.

In some ways all the types of yoga are related. Preparing the body to give in is the main goal of hatha yoga. If the mind is relaxed and the spirit within you is enlightened you wont feel the pain and the stress that you are experiencing. This is achieved with the practice of hatha yoga. You need to understand the relation between your body and the spirit. If you do not understand the relation between them you might get confused. You spirit is responsible to accomplish any task.

If your body is not fit then your spirit may not accomplish what is wants. Hatha yoga helps you to maintain your body and the hence the spirit positively. This positive attitude keeps your mind healthy with good concentration. Hatha yoga comes to the mind of the people when they hear Yoga, since it is the popular branch of yoga. The other types of yoga that gave rise from hatha yoga are the Kundalini, Ashtanga, Bikram, and power yoga.

Hatha yoga is considered and known as the vehicle of the soul. Hatha yoga is so relaxing that it drives both you body and spirit into the universe. This feeling can be compared to a person floating with no gravity at all. Many people are easily distracted by the outward forces and may not be able to focus on a particular task. Such people can get benefited with the hatha yoga. By constantly practicing hatha yoga you can find the divinity in yourself. This helps you to become stronger, relaxed and flexible apart from enlightening you.

With harmony between your mind, body and spirit the spiritual energy will flow through the open energy channels. This is achieved only with Hatha yoga. A healthy body is necessary for you mind and spirit to be strong. This is done by the practice of hatha yoga. It is easy to handle stress and get relieved of your pain and passion with the constant practice of hatha yoga. If you are exhausted with your work, hatha yoga makes you relax.

Visit Yoga workout guide for beginners or Different types of yoga for more information on yoga, its types, classifications, benefits and practice.

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