Question: I am interested in helping my children be fit and healthy and enjoy activity. Can you give me some guidelines?

Answer: There are several things that you can do to help kids learn to love sport and activity. First, you need to provide space and equipment so that being active is easy. One of the first things we did when we moved into our home was to pour a concrete slab for basketball, painted lines for four-square and hopscotch, and provided several different kinds of balls so that the kids could go out and play without leaving our yard.

We also provided lessons whenever an interest arose so that kids could learn proper technique. For instance, one daughter really got serious about gymnastics for awhile and had a great experience competing at the state junior level. A son wanted to try tennis and ended up taking lessons to improve his skills. All of the children took swimming lessons when they were young because we felt that swimming was such an important skill to learn early.

We supported their efforts to go out for teams by buying shoes, clubs, racquets, balls, mitts, etc. We also took them to various sporting events so that they could see high-level performance in person. We participated with them in the back yard to help them develop skills in sports such as basketball and baseball. And we took them to the tennis court, golf course, swimming pool and other venues so that they could practice and play.

The most important factor, however, is to set an example of fitness and health by participating in various activities yourself. It was fun to go jogging together as a family, and bike riding, with mountain bikes, can be a great family activity for health and fitness. You also need to provide a healthful diet for their consumption. If they learn to eat proper foods at a young age, their chance of eating properly is really enhanced.

I ran across some questions from the August issue of Running & FitNews (from "Your Child's Fitness," by Susan Kalish, Human Kinetics Publishing Co.) that will help you see how you rate as a fitness booster. I will not include the scoring portion because the questions themselves will be enough to give you some ideas.

1. Are you available for scheduled family fitness outings?

2. Do you remind your children to exercise at a particular time?

3. Do you monitor your children's exercise process?

4. Do you exercise with your children?

5. Do you reward your children for a fitness activity well done?

6. Do you monitor the amount of time your children watch TV?

7. Do you take your children to the doctor for regular checkups?

8. Do you keep healthy snacks in your home?

9. Do you plan weekly menus to achieve a balance and variety of foods?

10. Do you base dinners around a limited meat dish?

11. Do you discuss peer use of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs?

12. With older children, have you discussed sexual abstinence?

13. Do you make sure your children get sufficient sleep?

14. Do you encourage your children to take part in sports?

View Comments

15. Do you budget money to buy fitness equipment (shoes, balls, etc.)?

16. Do you talk to your children about their individual and team progress?

17. Do you and your spouse attend your children's sports events?

18. Do you discuss your children's physical education activities?

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.