To Push Kids Into Exercise – Don’t Push

 
Does your child or grandchild get enough exercise?  My six year old daughter Katelyn the “Gator” has discovered Minecraft and it is becoming Mind-Control Craft!  She loves it and I worry that she won’t be reading or playing or using her own great imagination as much as she used to so I’m developing a limited use schedule with rewards for good behavior.  One thing science has shown us is that nagging and trying to "guilt" kids into exercise most likely won’t work. Researchers from the University of Georgia found that kids were less likely to be physically active if they didn't feel in control or pressured to exercise.

U.S. News and World Report says the kids who felt they could make their own decisions about physical activity were more likely to think of themselves as physically active, which made them more likely to actually be physically active.

The time to really be on guard is five years from now when researchers say kids’ activity levels typically fall 50 percent between fifth and sixth grades.