FITNESS Archives - Happy Healthy Kids

4 Kids’ Sports Gear Mistakes Parents Make

April 28, 2017 by Kelley 1 Comment

Anyone who has a child in youth sports knows that athletics are way more intense than they were when we were kids. Even second- and third-grade town teams meet 3, 4, even 5 times a week, and now just about every sport is “year-round” if you want it to be (we know club organizations do, of course). And as our kids’ athletic commitments have grown, our sports gear budget seems to have ballooned along with it.

After an early spring in which my middle son developed a limp from ill-fitting sneakers, and a recent, stressful hour trying to parse the difference between baseball and lacrosse cleats at a local sporting goods warehouse staffed by one employee per every 5,000 square feet, I decided I could use some global insight. Jessica Kane, outreach coordinator for Steel Locker Sports in Austin, Texas, shared her observations about three things we ’80s kids—who just maybe wore jellies to little league softball practice—seem to be doing wrong when shopping and caring for the seemingly endless gear needed by 21st century young athletes.

Buying Too Big
This is maybe the most common misconception among parents, says Kane. Kids grow up quickly, and you might want to buy bigger shoes and clothes thinking they’ll grow into them. For shoes, you should buy the size that fits them comfortably now—ideally, according to podiatry experts, at the end of the day, when the foot has been working hard and might be a bit swollen, just as it is after running. Just as you probably know that too-small shoes can create pain and problems, too-big ones can, too: because the foot will slide around the shoe, blisters and muscle and tendon pain can result. The same rule should apply to uniform and clothing: comfortable and safe movement depends on it. Buy a proper fitting size for them and when the time comes, you can buy them a bigger uniform.

Wrong Shoes
Brand new shoes are the staple of a new school year and sports season. But many parents make the mistake of buying flash over substance, says Kane. When it comes to court sports or running, don’t buy street shoes instead of proper sports shoes: this is associated with common foot abnormalities like athlete’s foot or flat feet. Not all field sports require cleats, but it is important to do a bit of research on the types of cleats for specific sports. From a safety standpoint, soccer cleats are fairly versatile for all sports, but your child shouldn’t wear a shoe with a prominent toe cleat (often on baseball and lacrosse shoes) for soccer, which can be dangerous when kicking (and some refs might forbid). As your child ages and performance matters, you might want to invest in specialized cleats: the design in football, lacrosse, baseball, and soccer cleats are slightly different and can enhance lateral movement and other skills.

Not Washing Enough
We all—especially those of us with hockey players—know there’s a special eau de kid that only gets worse when our young athletes hit puberty. But the offense letting gear languish in bags or cubbies after a game or practice (or three) goes beyond locker room nose assault. Parents often let their kids wear their sports gear a second or third time if there is no visible grime, says Kane, but bacteria proliferates from sweat and even a little dirt which can cause rashes, acne, and other skin troubles. Other grubby little athletes will most certainly come in close contact with yours during the sport, adding their sweat and germs too, increasing your child’s risk of rashes and infections. After a game, make sure your children change out of their sweaty clothes and into fresh ones; and get those jerseys and pads—basically anything that’s not plastic—into the washing machine.

Spending Too Much
Sort of a surprise coming from a representative from a sports gear company, right? Kane recommends that before you commit to buying really expensive shoes and gear for your kids, remember that it will face a lot of wear and tear, sometimes for just a six-month stretch. A high price tag doesn’t always translate to great product performance—it often corresponds more with what brand-name is hot at the moment—so don’t be afraid to buy gear at a lower cost if the quality seems comparable. A good sales manager should be able to point you in the direction of less expensive brands that perform just as well as the pricey ones.

Top photo: Our “sports closet” at home. And this is just the half of it.

Getting Kids Outside this Winter

December 8, 2016 by Kelley 1 Comment

On these cold, dark December days, it’s tempting to crank up the thermostat, “lose track” of kids’ screen time, and daydream of an existence where we could teleport from car to house with zero exposure to the elements. But some recent reading is convincing me that I need to toughen up and get myself—and the kids—outside as much as possible this winter.

For one thing, studies are showing what kindergarten teachers have always known: Fresh air, even and maybe especially during wintertime, boosts attention. It’s something that Finland, which typically gives students 15 minutes of outdoor recess for every 45 minutes of classroom time, year-round, credits for its top rankings in the Program for International Student Assessment survey of reading, math and science scores. What’s more, outdoor activity in the colder months, specifically, may give us an extra health boost. Muscles work harder in slick or snowy conditions, and we burn more calories as our bodies have to work harder to raise our body temperature. Also, people who spend a lot of time outside in the wintertime are less likely to encounter germs that proliferate indoors when it’s cold, which can help protect us against some nasty bugs.

And yet, weather is the thing most likely to keep kids from playing outside, cited even more often than safety concerns, homework, and busy schedules by parents in a 2012 survey by the National Wildlife Federation. So what can we do to successfully nudge ourselves and kids outdoors when artificial light and heat seem so much more inviting?

L.L. Bean Mad Bomber Hat

Pay less attention to jackets, and more to hats. Kids are notorious for balking at and shedding their coats. In reality, children do have an elevated metabolism and energy level that does cause them to feel hotter than us, so they are apt to get overwarm and annoyed if the are overly bundled. But they also lose body heat more rapidly. Get them a winter jacket that they, above all, will want to keep on, and don’t sweat too much the “temperature ranges” that fancy puffer coat companies market. Where to spend your money (and your nagging quota): Hats. “A hat can go a long way toward keeping your child warm,” pediatrician Lee Bears, M.D., recently told the Washington Post. “If you are going to fight over something, that might be the thing to fight over.” As goofy as they look, you can’t beat bomber hats with chin straps for warmth. L.L Bean makes them in boy- and girl-friendly styles, and if parent reviewers in places like northern Maine and Newfoundland are satisfied, you probably will be, too.

Fold and Stow Snow Scooter

Snow Fort Building Set

Nite Ize “Flashlight”

Counter empty-yard syndrome. There’s nothing that makes backyard play less appealing than an empty patch of dead grass or crusty snow. Kids are far more apt to engage in active play when given more toy choices, according to research, so don’t stash all of the toys away with the skateboards and sprinklers when the temperature drops. Certain playthings are meant for cold or snowy conditions. Some kid-tested crowd-pleasers:
Hearthsong’s Fold and Stow Snow Scooter: This nifty scooter “floats” on the snow thanks to a ridged bottom. Ages 4 and up.
Glow-in-the-dark frisbees: Frisbees are great because they’re easier to grab than balls when you have gloves on, and these Nite Ize “Flashlight” LED-illuminated discs come in four super-bright colors that will be easier to see in the darkening pre-dinnertime hours.
Snow Fort Building Set: Much more than some plastic molds, kids can really sculpt a fortress with this kit. Ages 5 and up.

Fix.com’s winter fun ideas

Lead them in some simple games. We love Fix.com’s great (and simple) list of cold- and kid-friendly games, like Snow Spray Paint Art. Find it here.

Keep it short and sweet. Keeping outdoor play intervals short are more appealing as well as safer when the temperatures drop below freezing. To help motivate, set a timer on your watch or phone for 15 minutes, Finland’s typical recess interval—even this short a stint can get the heart pumping and is totally doable, especially if you ensure that kids have a set place to find and deposit their outwear on the way in and out. And a promise of sweet incentives upon their return indoors, like a cup of Silly Cow’s pricey, but truly excellent marshmallow-swirl flavored cocoa, hurts very little.

How to Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike

September 28, 2016 by Kelley 3 Comments

Is it just me, or does parenting a child from ages 4 to 6 seems seem like a disproportionately packed stretch of “teaching?” It’s in this tiny window when we’re told many of our children are “ready” (read: expected) to master the basics of an extraordinary number of life skills. Swimming. Swinging. Skating. Tooth-brushing. Buttoning. Writing. Reading. The list goes on. No wonder kids this age seem tired all the time.

For our Pre-K’er, the skill du jour is riding a bike. He’s clearly outgrowing his 12-inch training-wheeled number, and his penchant for endless loops around our driveway makes me think he might be ready to ditch the training wheels. But I don’t know if I’m ready—at least if this move will precipitate the tears and panic that characterized his older brothers’ graduation from four to two wheels. So I turned to Curt Hinson, Ph.D, a physical education expert and a Happy Healthy Kids adviser, for guidance. Dr. Hinson, who consults school P.E. departments around the country with his Dr. Recess program, has taught hundreds of kids to ride a bike, and usually after just several minutes of instruction. Here are his expert tips.

Skip training wheels. I had a feeling this was a miss on my part, and Dr. Hinson confirmed it. “They actually keep the kid from learning because they balance the bike for the rider,” he says. The key is to get their core engaged from the get-go, to make it easier to shift to a big-kid bike. For 3- and 4-year-olds learning to ride, he recommends a pedal-less bike (a.k.a. “balance bike”). “The rider sits on the seat and propels himself forward with his feet

Cleary Bikes’ Starfish Balance Bike

on the ground. This enables the child to balance the bike on his own and steer it, which are the two keys to learning to ride,” Dr. Hinson says. A really good one recently on the market: the 12-inch Starfish Balance Bike by Cleary Bikes. It’s pricey—starting at $199—but with a leather seat, special sealants to protect the paint, and (almost unheard of in balance bikes) a hand break, it’s one special piece of engineering. Find it at clearybikes.com or here at amazon.com. Another good, more affordable option is Tauki Kids 12-inch Balance Bike, available for $80 at amazon.com.

Bell’s Zipper Helmet

(And don’t forget a helmet, of course: The Bell Zipper has some great designs, and has been recommended in Consumer Reports’ safety ratings.)
Kids between 5 and 7 are a little too big for these little balance bikes. In their case, start with a regular two-wheeler that’s sized appropriately for them. This chart from the International Bicycle Fund is a good starting point to figure out what to buy.

What Size Bike is Right?

Age	Inseam size (from crotch to foot)	Wheel diameter (bike size)
4-6 years	16-20 inches	14 inches
5-8 years	18-22 inches	16 inches
6-9 years	20-24 inches	18 inches
7-10 years	22-25 inches	20 inches

Source: International Bicycle Fund

Lower the seat and have them practice “walking” the bike on grass. Having their feet flat on the ground at first is helpful. Encourage them to walk the bike while sitting on it. “The child should walk his feet on the ground, moving the bike, making turns and circles,” says Dr. Hinson. ” The goal is for him to get the feel of what it takes to steer the bike and balance it. Since their feet are on the ground, it’s fairly easy, and falls are eliminated.”
Do the same thing on the pavement. Once the child seems comfortable making turns and circles on foot while seated on the bike, progress to the driveway or a parking lot (preferably something flat, smooth, and with a lot of room to go off course). Have him try walking while making turns and circles on the pavement, until he’s comfortable.
Raise the seat back up to a proper height to try pedaling. “Many people want to keep the seat low and have the kid pedal with the seat low—they think this is safer because the kid will be able to put his feet on the ground if he begins to fall,” Dr. Hinson says. But once they are past the “walking” stage, this is a no-no: “Having the seat low makes it really difficult to pedal, as your legs are never fully extended, and when beginners sense they are falling they don’t always put their feet on the ground, but rather let go of the handle bars and basically try to jump off the bike—it’s just instinct, they all do it.” Move the seat up so there’s about a 10-degree bend in their knee when the pedal is at the bottom of the pedal stroke—their toes should just barely touch the ground.
Lightly support the rider as they start push off one foot and start pedaling. “People try to hold the seat, but that’s just balancing it for the rider—the same thing as training wheels,” says Dr. Hinson. “I typically will either grab the rider up under both armpits or grab a hold of his shirt in the center of his back and bunch it up in my hand. Then run along side of the rider—that’s the difficult part. It takes effort, stamina, strength and compassion (no yelling allowed!).”
Keep the mood light, too. Some kids will be riding capably in a few minutes, others will take more time. For slower learners—often the kids who are little more risk-averse—be sure to not put on too much pressure, which will just make them more anxious. Take a break and try again later.

Why Active is More Important than Thin

April 1, 2016 by Kelley 1 Comment

From magazine covers to reality TV to body-negative chatter on the Internet, we’re surrounded my messages that it’s good—paramount, perhaps—to look fit. But someone can look physically healthy and not be—even in childhood, as important new research shows.

In a study led by Mount Sinai Hospital researchers in New York City and funded by the U.S. Department of Health, 1.5 million teens were given physical fitness assessments, and then tracked as adults—up to age 62. Turns out that young people with poor aerobic fitness and low muscle strength had triple the risk of diabetes later in life, regardless of their body mass index (BMI). Kids who were active, but heavier, were still protected against diabetes—likely due, researchers say, to the way that physical activity helps regulate the hormone insulin. Insulin sensitivity is the main factor in the development of diabetes. In 2012, 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, had diabetes—a number that’s rising at an “alarming” pace, according to CDC officials.

These findings bring home two important messages that are crucial to pass on to our kids. One, that “thin”—no matter how good it looks poolside or on the cover of US Weekly—can still be unhealthy. And, two: that being active might be the most important thing you can do for your health.

We’ve shared lots of ideas for keeping kids moving on this site, including teaching them silly, old-school neighborhood games, giving them access to great outdoor toys, and playing fun games en famile, from the driveway to the beach. For older kids, organized sports are obviously a terrific way to combine physical activity with a social outlet. But as we’ve noted before, kids who aren’t into the team thing can get the same physical and emotional benefits by participating in lower-stakes recreational games and less mainstream physical activities, like yoga or a running club.

The key: Teaching kids from very early on that physical activity is not only fun but helps you feel good—and most important, modeling that message ourselves. If you’re inclined to stick the scale in a back closet—and perhaps pull out the jump rope or hand weights you stashed in there sometime during the Bush administration—we’d be supportive of that too.

Photo credit: “Hooray for Summer!” via Photo Pin, cc

Neighborhood Games Kids Should Know

July 26, 2015 by Kelley 1 Comment

As kids age, telling them to “go play”—the refrain of summer—gets trickier. Lately, I’ve been longing for the days when my older boys happily played with a jumble of toys or on our swing set for hours on playdates. Now, when my 9- and 7-year-old sons have friends over to our house, they play some sports, sometimes skirmish with Nerf or water guns, and ask, disappointingly often, to use the computer or iPad. We’ve resisted buying an Xbox—for better or worse, depending on how you look at it.

On summer days in my childhood, neighborhood kids would play together for hours, no digital or sports gear needed. We played games—various forms of tag, Red Rover, Kick the Can, and when the fireflies emerged, Manhunt or Ghost in the Graveyard. So when my older sons had two equally active, adventurous friends over this afternoon, I got two sticks, tied bandanas to them, and suggested Capture the Flag. They played for nearly two hours, swapping alliances for various rounds—and I haven’t heard such delighted shrieks—or seen such sweaty faces—from a group of kids in a long time.

It occurred to me that my kids don’t know how to play most of the neighborhood games that dominated my childhood. So, as we close out a camp-packed July and enter a less structured August, I’m making a cheat sheet of games for my children and their friends (you can select and print the 8 x 10 sheet below). Feel free to adapt the finer points; you may have used different rules and names than we suburban Philly kids did in the 80s. And if, on a summer’s evening, you want to jump into a round of Manhunt, expect to score some major points with the kids.

Confronting Kids’ Weight Problems

May 21, 2015 by Kelley 1 Comment

More than 96% of parents of overweight preschoolers and 79% of parents of obese youngsters believe their child is the “right” size, say researchers at New York University and two other medical centers. A new study in the research journal Childhood Obesity compared parental perceptions to those of two decades ago, and found that while proportionally far more kids are clinically overweight or obese these days, the vast majority of parents believe their kids’ weight is “just about right.”

The stat is obviously worrisome—so much so that David Katz, M.D., the editor-in-chief of Childhood Obesity and a Yale physician, has coined a new phrase for what our generation of parents apparently suffers from: oblivobesity. But when it comes to the ages of the kids in question in this particular study—2- to 5-year-olds—it’s also, admittedly, relatable. I have one child who has a slightly high BMI, and yet is super-active, happily eats a wide range of fruits and veggies, and doesn’t really look overweight. It’s hard to imagine he has a “problem”—at least one that won’t shake out as he grows.

Wanting some perspective, I spoke to Julie Kardos, M.D., a Philadelphia pediatrician and one-half of Two Peds in a Pod, the blogging team who serves on Happy Healthy Kids’ advisory board. She shares her thoughts about “oblivobesity,” why we shouldn’t tell kids they need to “lose weight,” and a wake-up call when it comes to kids’ portion control.

Q. Were you surprised to learn that almost all parents believe their overweight child is the “right” weight?

A. We were struck with how high the number was, but honestly, we see so many parents who don’t have a realistic view of their child’s weight. And it’s not just overweight kids’ parents. Though far fewer relatively speaking, parents of children who are underweight often think their children are normal weight.

Q. How do you explain it?

A. You often see family patterns. Parents who are overweight, too, are often apt to think they’re children are at a fine weight, because it’s what they live with themselves. Also, it may be a reflection of societal trends. More and more adults are overweight. Clothing stores are accommodating by making sizes roomier—a 6 is sized closer to what an 8 or 10 was when we were growing up. Overweight has become the new “normal” for many people.

On the flip side, I also see many parents who think their kids have a weight problem when in reality they are just fine. Often, parents of boys who are normal weight are convinced they are underweight. This may also be a reflection of parents—in this case their own weight insecurities or concerns.

Q. I think a lot of parents think—and are often told by other, well-meaning adults—that their kids will grow out of the baby weight naturally, and being overweight as a child is no big deal.

A. It’s not a great stance to have, actually. Weight patterns are hard to reverse because you become more and more ingrained in your eating habits as you age. And being overweight and obese are associated with a long list of health problems. In the short term, heavier kids have a harder time exercising, or simply just being active in the way kids should. They often have a tough time doing simple, everyday things like getting on exam table. Often their dental health suffers because of poor eating habits. And they are more likely to get teased. In the long term, overweight is associated with heart problems, joint problems, diabetes, and certain cancers.

Q. If you find a child to be overweight, how do you talk to families about it?

A. Telling kids they need to “go on a diet” or “lose weight” usually isn’t helpful. Talking to them about the importance of sticking to their current weight for the next year as the continue to grow taller sits a lot better. We’ll often say, “you’ve gained enough weight for this year—let’s watch what we eat, and get lots of exercise, and let your height catch up.”

Q. What would be your top tips for parents who want to help overweight kids do just that?

A. First, make healthy eating a family affair. Stock up on more fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grain snacks, and eat them yourself—there’s little chance a child who struggles to eat healthily is going to happily accept a piece of fruit for snack if you or a sibling is eating a candy bar. Think about how much food you serve to a small child: Often, parents serve their 6-year-old the same portion they serve to themselves, even if that child is less than half their size. Serve small portions, and then allow them to ask for more if they are still hungry. Before serving them seconds, or a snack right after a meal, set a mental (or even an actual) timer to 20 minutes, and then check in again to see if your child is still hungry. Often, that’s how long it takes for your stomach to acknowledge that it’s full. Chances are, they’ll be off playing and the hunger pang will have gone away. Finally, make sure you schedule those annual well visits with your pediatrician. This study shows us that it can be very hard for parents to have a good sense of whether their children are at a healthy weight. Pediatricians can give you perspective, good advice—and a contact number for a nutritionist if you need extra help.

Kids and Strength Training: A Good Idea?

February 10, 2015 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Our town recreation department recently started offering Crossfit classes—for kids. That was a surprise: I’ve always associated Crossfit—the high-impact, strength-boosting exercise movement that’s swept the nation—with hardcore (and hard-bodied) adults. The idea of kids doing burpees—and not the kind for laughs at the lunch table—seemed a little…much?

At the same time, I knew that strong muscles can help protect against many sports-related injuries. Also, gym-related fitness is a great alternative for kids who aren’t drawn to traditional competitive sports. The question: what can kids who are interested in getting stronger do that can help—and not hurt—growing bodies? So I checked into the research, spoke with my husband (a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine) and consulted with physical education expert Curt Hinson, Ph.D., a Happy Healthy Kids advisory board member. Here are some takeaways:

1. Strength training can be really good for children and teens… Studies have demonstrated that well-supervised programs, especially ones performed twice a week for at least 8 weeks, can safely and measurably increase kids’ strength, and may also help decrease the risk of certain injuries. This is important to note as youth sport competitions continue to grow more intense and competitive, leading to the type of injuries—like A.C.L. tears—that used to only plague adults.

2. …But it’s imperative that kids do the right kind of strength training. The safest and best type of weight training regimen for kids should involve light weights, and high repetitions. Make sure kids are not doing any type of explosive, powerlifting moves, whether with weights or medicine balls or kettle bells or (as might be the case in our house) unwilling younger siblings. Lifting super-heavy objects can throw a skeletally immature child off balance, and overstress their joints.

Even better for kids are resistance-based moves that don’t involve any weights. So, certain Crossfit staples, like squats, mountain climbers, and, yes, burpees can be safe and beneficial for kids, if done with controlled, supervised movements. Most strength training injuries occur on home equipment, with unsafe behavior and in unsupervised settings. Make sure you or another trusted adult is monitoring your child when he or she is working out.

3. Hold off on encouraging your child to try any strength-training program until they are 8 years old. Because it’s around this time that children achieve adult-level balancing skills, which are needed to do strength-training moves safely and effectively, experts recommend parents hold off on letting their children embark on any muscle-building programs until this age.

4. Make sure you put the benefits of strength training in perspective for kids. Remind kids that muscle isn’t the magic bullet to sports success (or popularity or attractiveness, for that matter.) It’s important that kids know the risks of pushing their bodies too hard, as well as the dangers of supplements and pills that purport to make them bigger or more “cut.”

5. Check out the IronKids app if your child shows interest in getting stronger. The AAP has created a great, $3.99 app called IronKids, which features lots of safety tips as well as a 45-minute, kid-friendly “IronStrength” workout. Do it together with your kids—it’s a great way for you to keep tabs on their progress and fit a workout in at the same time.

What if Your Kid Hates Sports?

January 7, 2015 by Kelley 7 Comments

More kids than ever—a whopping 21.5 million, according a recent analysis by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association —play organized sports. Indeed, for better or occasionally worse, there seems to be a team for everyone, every season of the year. But what if you’re the parent of a child who doesn’t want to play on a team at all? For whom an hour at the dentist may be preferable to strapping on the shin pads and chasing after a soccer ball?

In our sports-crazed culture, parenting a child who claims to “hate sports” can be tricky. I’ve spoken with parents who worry that children who beg off little league tryouts or who shuffle around a basketball court in apparent misery are missing out on some important childhood rite—or at the very least, an opportunity to bond with peers in some meaningful way. These feelings are natural, particularly if you have a little youth league nostalgia yourself. Plus, there’s data suggesting that sports participation can help boost self-esteem, fitness, social confidence, and even academic achievement.

Other than putting a child’s lack of athletic interest in perspective—we are, after all, talking about games here—parents can do many things to support sports-averse kids at multiple ages and stages. In fact, many kids may get the physical, social, and emotional benefits of mainstream sports and more by participating in lower-stakes recreational games or less mainstream physical activities. With special thanks to HHK adviser Curt Hinson, Ph.D., a kinesiologist and dad who counsels schools around the country about improving gym and recess programs, we’re listed two big ideas here.

At the early childhood level…Don’t push programming.

It’s not hard to get sucked into the tot-team industrial complex cropping up in many communities (guilty here). It sometimes seems that everyone’s signing their preschoolers and kindergarteners up for soccer, tee ball, and the like. Sure, exposing a child to a variety of sports early on may be just thing to help him narrow down what he likes and doesn’t like. But if your little one starts balking every time you lace up those teeny-tiny cleats, it may be time to throw in the towel, at least temporarily. “The most common reasons a child ‘hates sports’ are that they had a bad experience or lack the skill to participate at a level that makes them feel successful,” says Dr. Hinson. Some tot-level organized sports—ones in which coaches attempt to teach skills that are above many participants’ fledgling physical capacities—can set the stage for both these problems. “If a child starts playing at an early age and he or she lacks the strength or coordination to participate at a successful level, they often become frustrated or bored, which, in a child’s mind, can equate to ‘hating sports,'” says Dr. Hinson.

If this is your kid, says Dr. Hinson, the best remedy is for parents not to force their children to play in an organized league, especially skill-based team sports like soccer, baseball, football, basketball or ice hockey. “It’s better in this scenario to spend the early years just playing with your child in the backyard or in an open gym space,” he says. “Often, throwing, catching and kicking skills can be developed quicker with you than at a team practice. Some team practices have kids standing around waiting in line more than they are engaged in skill development.” This way, you can gauge a young child’s interest without the pressures or costs of a team experience. Invite some friends or neighbors over every so often if the social aspect is of interest to you or your child. This may be extra work for you, but chances are the extra family time and lower pressure environment will benefit everyone.

At the elementary- and middle-school level…Sign up for alternative sports.

When your older child ‘hates sports,’ it may just be that he just hates the sports he’s been exposed to up until this point. While the saying that “there’s an athlete inside all of us,” may sound a little commercial or corny, it’s true that there’s some appealing physical activity out there for almost every child—and now more than ever. Some of those ballooning sports participation stats have to do with the fact that more and more kids are getting involved with physical activities that weren’t available to us as kids.

Talking to your friends, your child’s P.E. teachers, and, of course, local Google searches will help generate ideas. In our town outside of Boston, for instance, there are a few indoor rock climbing facilities that hold kids’ classes, and many kids’ skiing programs. Dr. Hinson has found that dance programs and gymnastics in particular appeal to many kids who are disinclined toward team sports. There’s also a growing number of fitness gyms that have launched kids’ programming, from yoga to Crossfit. More and more towns are holding running programs and races that begin at the school-age level, and there are even kids triathlons held in many communities (look for one near you at trifind.com).

Whether or not your child finds a friend who’s game to try out one of these alternative sports with her, consider joining her yourself. You may both get more fit—have you ever tried to keep up with a motivated 11-year-old?—and also find that the best bonding you do is on a running trail or chairlift. And that’s a win-win.

Photo credit: Biscarotte via Photo Pin, cc

When the Sports Season Never Ends

December 9, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

The other day, in the precious two-hour gap between dropping my youngest off at his toddler program and picking him back up, there were any number of things I could have done (and had to do): pay bills, clean out the garage, work on an article, figure out what the orange stain on the mudroom floor could possibly be. Instead, I made a spreadsheet: of my kids’ youth sports commitments. The athletic options for 8- and 6-year-old boys are so many, and so frequent, I had to summon the powers of Excel to figure out which sports they could do, and when, without all of us going crazy. Or broke.

There are no more seasons anymore, really, in youth sports. In communities like ours, children as young as 4 or 5 can play pretty much anything they want, year-round, for town teams or “club” teams. And that’s a shame.

How can too much choice be a bad thing? Naturally, kids like mine who enjoy sports are all for, say, indoor baseball in November or the $1000 summer lacrosse “club” team, especially if their friends are doing it. But many parents grumble that town leagues are being diluted as for-profit club teams and developmental clinics pull the best of the best from the local teams. Others worry that if year-round or “elite”-level teams are available, their kids need to join ranks in order to have a shot at making increasingly competitive middle or high-school teams. Doctors like my orthopedic surgeon husband are concerned that young kids who specialize in certain high-level athletics week-after-week, month-after-month are at risk for overuse conditions and other sports injuries that used to only afflict adult athletes.

Those are all big problems, but when I watch my six-year-old practicing pop-ups in an indoor baseball “facility” while it’s snowing outside, what I think about most is burnout. I played a handful of sports as a kid, and I remember the excitement of dusting off my field hockey stick at the start of the school year, or my mitt when the snow started to melt. There was a sport for every season, at least until the high school years, and I welcomed the change. Just as snowfall seems more magical in December than March, so does a freshly Zamboni’d ice rink. This is what former NBA player Bob Bigelow talked about most in his book, Just Let the Kids Play. For kids whose parents afford them every opportunity to play any sport they want, at the highest levels attainable through the magic of money and Minivan chauffeurs, Bigelow feels only pity. “They’ve had their childhood robbed of them so their parents can create another athletic Frankenstein,” he told ESPN The Magazine earlier this year. While I was a writer for Sports Illustrated a decade ago, I wrote about many of these kids, and was often glowing—the talent that some precocious athletes exhibit today is, after all, nothing short of awesome—but at other times, skeptical.

What Bigelow and many other youth sport advocates want is not less sports, per se, but a greater variety of lower-stakes sports, especially at the young ages. This is a model we are embracing with our kids, but because you can sample from so many different kinds of sports all year, even this can create Frankensteins of a different sort: After a day of shepherding two children between four different athletic events, I’m left feeling a little monstrous myself. “More sports,” even town-based, low-pressure ones, can eat up family time, to the point that many of my friends feel that weekends are more stressful, scattered, and draining than weekdays. It takes real restraint to say “no” to an activity that the other kids in the class are doing—and military-grade logistical plotting to coordinate schedules so friends or siblings can participate in a sport together, on the same team. (And with tryouts becoming common in many sports starting in kindergarten, there’s no telling if your child will be able to play alongside his best buddy anyway.)

As for now, our general rules are that we: allow our kids to play no more than two sports per season at most; stand firm that our kids will every so often miss a game or practice in favor of important family events (or the occasional birthday party, because, c’mon, they are in first and third grade); and remind our kids over and over again that sportsmanship, effort, teamwork, and fun are more important than whether you are on the A1a team or A1b team. We’re still feeling our way through this, however, and realize the rules may change—particularly since our 3-year-old will no doubt try some things his brothers do, which means that the family sports machine, as taxed as it currently seems, is actually only running at about 66% capacity. Feedback is welcome from readers who’ve gone or are going through the same thing and have found a way to help their kids balance a healthy interest in sports with good mental and physical health generally. In the meantime, I have to go down to the basement to tell my older boys to stop playing “keep it up” with a day-old balloon so they can come up for breakfast. But it’s so hard; it sounds like they’re having the most fun they’ve had all week, and it has cost nothing.

photo credit: Simon Sees via Photo Pin, cc

Do You Have Exercise Guilt?

November 24, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Pre-kids, “exercise guilt” might have been induced by a long weekend morning reading The Times rather than jogging around Central Park, or sabotaging a 6 p.m. spin class with a second piece of conference-room birthday cake. Barring a seriously pressing work assignment, whether I worked out or not on most days stemmed from a simple question: Do I feel like it?

Nowadays, there are so many compelling reasons to bag exercise, starting with the two big hazel eyes that tear up as soon as I start to lace up my running shoes on a Saturday or Sunday morning. With three kids, an extra-busy husband, writing assignments, school commitments, and a household to manage, even a short run around the neighborhood can feel like a selfish luxury. Exercise guilt comes not from skipping a workout, but making (precious) time for it.

On the weekends, my husband and I try to trade off, shoehorning exercise between hockey practices or during Dora. Weekdays, I usually make it work on two mornings when all the three boys are in school, an alignment of stars that would have seemed freaking incredible to my newer-mom self a few years ago, when I once actually tried to do calf raises while nursing one day, in a moment of sleep-deprived delirium. But everything is relative, of course, and these days, I often find myself filling that time with extra writing, extra school volunteer projects, or extra time trying to figure out whether Pull-ups are a better deal at Target or Amazon. Before I know it, I’m late to toddler time pickup, and by day’s end, those exercise pants I pulled on that morning will have been pointless.

I realize that this is a first-world problem, and a much bigger issue for full-time working parents with inflexible work schedules. And yet, exercise guilt is incredibly common, says Happy Healthy Kids’s adviser Monique Tello, M.D. A mom of two who specializes in women’s health in her primary care practice in Boston, Dr. Tello deals with exercise guilt on a personal and professional level. Her kids, too, grab her legs when she’s about to head out the door for a run, and her patients often reveal that when they say they’re “too busy to exercise,” they really mean that they feel guilty for taking time that could be spent with their family or at their job.

“Believe it or not, this has actually been studied,” says Dr. Tello, who’s also writing on the topic this week in her own blog, Generally Medicine. “Research has shown that physical activity consistently declines with parenthood.” In a study just last month, Kansas State researchers asked parents why that they think that’s the case, and both dads and moms pointed mainly to a lack of time and, yes, guilt. (One interesting difference: While all parents felt that fitness cut into family time, dads were more likely to feel guilty about exercising in the evening, because it took away from time with their spouse; moms were more likely to feel guilty about exercising during the workday, because it took time away from their job.)

The thing is, while it may seem that “just one more story” or an extra half-hour fielding work emails can feel critical in the moment, a long run might be better for the whole family in the, well, long run. Fitness can help protect against all sort of health problems, from heart failure to depression, and, by and large, happy, healthy parents raise happy, healthy kids. If missing a run or a boot camp class is going to make you cranky, you won’t be a fun person to be around, no matter how many pancakes or Rainbow Loom bracelets you make.

Which doesn’t mean that some very real obstacles—sick kids, traveling spouses, pressing deadlines, pregnancy—aren’t going to prevent you from maintaining the type of hardcore exercise regimen you might have followed as a singleton. But this, says Dr. Tello, is where a little can go a long way, especially when it comes to exercise’s mental benefits. On days she’s unavoidably busy, she’ll do, say, 5 minutes of core work on her bedroom floor after the kids fall asleep, and take the stairs rather than the elevator at the hospital where she works. “When kids see their parents value exercise, they are more likely to value exercise,” she says. “We sometimes do things as a family, like hiking, or kicking a soccer ball around. Someday, I hope we can all run races. Thinking about all that doesn’t just ease the guilt, it erases it.”

I like that line of thinking. During the crazy-busy month ahead, I’m going to resolve to keep doing at least just a little bit most days, no matter how much I have on my plate. (Especially if that plate contains extra Christmas cookies.) Because no one really gains anything if I skip exercise, except for maybe me, and not in a good way.

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk via Photo Pin, cc