Statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Healthy lifestyle habits, including a nutritious diet and regular physical activity, are more critical to the wellbeing of our youth than ever before. What’s more, these are habits that when established as youth are far more likely to continue throughout adulthood.
Raising fit kids isn’t as difficult as it might seem; it simply requires knowledge, dedication, and utilizing resources wisely. It might mean encouraging your kids to always take the stairs instead of the elevator, making them put down the tablet and go outside to play, or ensuring that they participate in a variety of sports and activities in order to keep them from being overly sedentary. Leading by example is important, as is keeping it fun and engaging.
Richard Messina – Play It Again Sports
“We have an epidemic of obese children in our country thanks to fast food diets and sedentary lifestyles,” says Richard Messina, owner of the Play It Again Sports store in Omaha. “Many children are involved in team or individual sports as a way to keep active. However, in addition to the health benefits, through sports kids can learn discipline, teamwork, fair play and so many other valuable life lessons. Whether it is soccer or baseball, softball or lacrosse, hockey or golf, at Play It Again Sports Omaha we have the equipment you need to get your child out there playing a sport without a huge hit to your pocketbook. All you have to do is walk into our store and you are completely surrounded by health and fitness ideas for people of all ages.
We also like to stay on the pulse of what kid’s activities are trending. In response to the demand, we have recently added some youth sizes to our boxing and marital arts section. Realizing that many teens are interested in heavy bag work, we have a large variety of sizes from 40lb up to 100lb bags, and youth sizes in boxing and MMA style gloves. We have always provided junior and youth sized golf clubs, but new to our store this spring will be teen golf sets. We also have a great selection of new and used weight benches. Some are perfect for a young teenager just starting out with a lifting program at home.
Above all, our sales associates have a true love for sports and fitness and want to share that with our customers of all ages. We also want to make it fun, because an activity that is fun will make a sport or exercise a passion–something a child can enjoy doing for a long time. Play It Again Sports also emphasizes family involvement. Our team is constantly learning so we can share that knowledge with our customers. We want everyone to make a more informed decision on their purchases and walk away with the right product at a great price. We really want the families to be happy with what they buy for their youngster so they will continue to play, have fun and stay active.
He further advises, “Parents are the primary role model to our children. When we are active, fit, and eat right – so do they. We want parents to be involved in sports with their kids. Even if you’ve never played a sport that your child is interested in, we’d love to share with you some knowledge to help get you ‘into the game.’ If you need some help losing weight or toning up to be an example to your children, we have several different treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes to choose from – new and used. We have a great variety of new and used sporting goods and fitness equipment for the entire family. Making health and fitness a priority in your family will have a positive effect on your children and their health and well-being. It is a new year. Let 2016 be the year your family decides to play and get fit together!”
Brad Schmitt DC – Schmitt Chiropractic & Rehab, PC.
Just as physical activity and regular movement is critical to the overall wellness of children, chiropractic care can also be incorporated into one’s lifestyle as early as infancy as it offers a whole host of health benefits. “Chiropractic care can benefit kids of any age, from newborns up through teenagers, in a number of ways,” advises Brad Schmitt, DC of Schmitt Chiropractic & Rehab. “Improved sleeping, improved behavior, and improved immune function are a few of the major benefits seen with chiropractic care in kids. Bed wetting, ear infections, and colic are some of the common conditions that people will seek out chiropractic care for. It is also beneficial in the treatment of scoliosis and other musculoskeletal related dysfunction in kids.
Frequency of chiropractic care for kids can vary depending on the situation. For certain situations, multiple times a week is needed initially to get the best response to care. In other situations, monthly to every few months can be sufficient. The most important aspect of chiropractic care with kids is keeping their spine healthy and functional as they grow. Many kids are diagnosed with scoliosis at a young age, and in those cases, it is especially important to seek chiropractic care. Issues with the spine that are not as evident as scoliosis are present in many kids though, and it can affect a number of things as they grow. Keeping the spine healthy is a big part of keeping kids healthy.
Furthermore, parents need to be aware that kids have factors in their life that lead to spinal health issues just as adults do. Falling down, sitting in a desk all day at school, and looking at technology devices will stress their spine. It is more common for people to think of adults needing chiropractic care, but not kids, because adults generally have more pain than kids do. Many times these issues in the spine are asymptomatic, so your child can’t always tell you if there is a problem. In certain situations, kids will feel pain associated with spinal dysfunction, but not always. Ignoring these issues will not only result in eventual pain, but early onset degeneration in many cases. Having a spinal checkup is important for the future health of your child’s spine.”
Movement is critical for kids, and so is ensuring that full range of motion is maintained and systems are functioning properly in order to avoid injuries or damage to growing bodies. Approaching change can be difficult, but it’s necessary if we are going to beat the statistics and raise healthy kids. As parents, and in a broader sense as adults in our community who serve as role models, it’s our job to positively influence this behavior by modeling it ourselves and encouraging it consistently from the youngsters in our lives.