Get a Move On If You Want Kids to Be Active

What’s the best way to be sure your kid doesn’t grow up to be a couch potato?

Keep moving yourself. That’s the conclusion of Boston researchers who surveyed 102 families in the Framingham Heart Study.

During the study, parents and children wore electronic monitors that sensed and recorded any movement, says co-author David Lombardi of the Boston University School of Medicine.

Among the findings, reported in the Journal of Pediatrics:

* Children of active mothers were twice as likely to be active as children of inactive mothers.

* Children of active fathers were 3.5 times as likely to be active as children of inactive fathers.

* The strongest effect on activity was found in families with both parents active. Children of two active parents were nearly six times as likely to be active as those with two inactive parents.

“Serving as a role model has a lot to do with it,” says Lombardi. Genetics plays a role too, the authors speculate. And active families may pursue exercise as a shared leisure-time activity, Lombardi adds.

But family environment alone can’t ensure that children will stay active, says another researcher. Schools must drastically change their approach to physical education to help children learn to love exercise, says Charles B. Corbin, professor of exercise science and physical education at Arizona State University. Schools should focus less on the product of fitness--with emphasis on awards and performance--and more on the process.

“Schools should not give awards based, for instance, on how many chin-ups a kid can do,” Corbin says. “They should find ways to make exercise fun for kids and keep it fun.”

They shouldn’t make every kid do the same exercise. If a kid doesn’t like basketball, for instance, he shouldn’t be forced to play.”