Sedentary concerns for high school

[NotSoObvious]

My girls are in 8th grade and I'm working on figuring out what our next four years will look like. They have outside sports and physically demanding volunteer positions, yet I'm still surprised at how much sitting we do. I see it getting even worse next year as we ramp up the academics.

 

How do you find balance? How long do your kids sit each day? Right now mine sit from about 8:30-12:30 on an average day without much of a break, sometimes longer, because of online classes and the need to finish work before we rush out the door for activities. (Then they work a bit more later in the day and in the car while we drive.)

 

I suppose I also see their interests changing with age, as well. They don't spend their down time playing outside with neighbors anymore. They want to play Minecraft, email, or Skype.

 

How do you make sure your kids are moving during the day?

[Luckymama]

I don't worry about it----she goes to ballet weekday evenings and is plenty active there!

 

During the day dd doesn't sit constantly----she'll walk around, go up and down stairs, lie on a floor to read or write, etc.

[OnMyOwn]

This has definitely become a worry for me as my kids have gotten older and their school day has lengthened. I have recently instituted a daily walk into our schedule, but it isn't enough, imo. Interested to hear what others are doing.

[Hilltopmom]

Dd, 13, does afternoon or evening dance classes several times a week.

 

Ds, 15, just got told he needs to pick TKD or an indoor track membership to start soon (he's a computer geek & will happily sit 24/7). But he's off to college in a few years & I'd like to get him hooked on more physical activity in the meantime.

 

I prefer things they can easily continue into adult lives, so walking or individual sports as opposed to say, soccer.

 

Both kids do enjoy getting out biking, hiking, kayaking, skiing... but honestly, we have a disabled child who we can't take on those outings, so they only go with friends or relatives (so, not often enough to count as regular exercise).

 

If your kids already do sports after school & on weekends, but you're looking for more daytime exercise breaks, I'd suggest a walk at lunch time, or maybe exercise videos if they'd find that fun, or getting a treadmill & taking turns using it ( while listening to audiobooks or music).

 

Training, as a family, for fundraiser walks or runs sounds like a lot of fun too! You could start with the shorter ones & work your way up & they can continue as adults.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Hilltopmom

[happypamama]

My oldest never is still, sitting or not; she's been moving pretty much continually since she learned to roll herself across the room to grab toys at four months old. I only wish I had half of her energy!

 

If my children didn't have a sport already, I'd probably require that one of their high school electives, or at least half of one, be something physical. As it is, DD is planning to continue her martial arts class once a week, and since she's halfway to black belt now, over the next two years, she's going to be needing some consistent home practice time. The nice thing about MA is that it's easy to practice at home, and a lot can be accomplished in ten minutes of practice, which makes a nice break from schoolwork, just enough to get the blood flowing (and make progress on skill set) but without completely derailing the day. Is an MA class an option? I would recommend one of the ones that is self defense focused, like hapkido, because of its practical applications.

 

We also have a weight bench set up, and with some instruction, the older ones could use it for small breaks during the day.

 

My ten year old has expressed interest in running with me, if I ever become a runner. And DH enjoys evening bike rides with them too.

[freesia]

My kids are required to do 2 credits of PE-we spread it over the 4 years. All my kids go and run for 40 minutes 4 x a week and then do climbing club or skill development in tennis, basketball, volleyball ( lifelong sports) one day. We also hike.

[lewelma]

My ds has to walk to all his activities, which adds up to 3 hours 40 minutes a week.  Plus his badminton and Martial arts sum to 8 hours per week. He also typically walks an additional 2 hours a week just going to a restaurant, or meeting his father coming home from work, or even (like to day) walking to his math exam which was across the city.  Not sure it is enough, but he seems fit and his weight is good.  So I'm not worried about it.

 

Ruth in NZ 

[G5052]

If they're involved in some kind of sport or regular exercise, the sitting doesn't worry me. That's part of growing up. Imagine if they were in the classroom all day and then had homework. Most adults have sitting jobs (I do), but we try to balance it out.

 

Mine do martial arts 3x a week, and the older one goes to the gym 4x a week. I go to the gym 4x a week, some of it with the older one.

[RootAnn]

This is a constant concern for my older girls. The youngers still go outside & run around a lot (inside the house   :glare: ) The older three were all in karate 2x/week, but that is on hold because their teacher is on sabbatical & the school is temporarily closed. We don't do gymnastics or horse-back riding anymore either.

 

My oldest had exercise built into her school schedule & check-sheet last year, but I didn't do it this year. I figured it was time for her to take responsibility for it. Both older girls have step counters so they are aware of their activity level. (The only thing that has worked so far is for me to walk on the treadmill. They all like to compete with me.)

 

I'm  :bigear:

Edited November 28, 2015 by RootAnn

[SporkUK]

Maybe look into Dynamic Work Spaces. There's been a few articles about them floating around lately - here is one that has ideas that could be used I think. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I can't get my older kid to do much in that realm.  He does ride his bike from time to time, but for a few months in the year that's not even possible due to snow and ice.

 

I thought about fun exercise videos.  We do have Wii Dance and that's pretty fun.  Admittedly I don't set a very good example though.

 

 

[Penguin]

DS is on a swim team, so he gets weekly hard training. But now that he has a step counter, he is more active daily. He likes upping his goal and meeting it. Even better, the step counter lets him know when he has been sitting for too long of a stretch. He runs up and down the stairs a bit (or something like that) to make the red line go away. I think active mini-breaks during the day help with focus.

[lllll]

nm

Edited December 2, 2015 by ^ 022

[Sharon77]

This was/is a huge issue for me because my kids have heavy school loads. They could sit there for hours, and unlike public school where the kids at least have to get up to change classrooms, my kids don't have to move.

 

They play organized sports but when you see all the studies on how dangerous sitting is to one's health, it's best they not sit much. So I had their dad put blocks under their desks to make them into standing desks. I also made them walk .5 mile on the treadmill each hour.

[MerryAtHope]

I consider "PE" a mandatory course, .5 credit per year. I require that they do something for a minimum of 30 minutes per day--they can go for a walk, bike ride, practice martial arts moves, shoot hoops....really anything they want. Our local YMCA has a 1.5 hour homeschool PE class weekly for most of the fall, winter, and spring, where the kids learn team sports, do calisthenics, work on core muscles, and end with 30 minutes of swim time. Regular chores like raking leaves and shoveling provide a good amount of exercise in the fall and winter too, though obviously it's easier to get more opportunities during the warmer months. I also encourage my kids to make personal fitness goals. My son loves to bike ride, so he has made distance goals but also challenge goals like working up the strength to get up a high hill. 

 

Set a requirement and then encourage your kids to find something they like to do.

[GailV]

I see 2 issues in this.  One is the problem of being sedentary.  The other is the problem of sitting in chairs, which honestly isn't the healthiest way to sit. 

 

It is important to get up and move around at least every hour.  Ideally that would include walking around (using a treadmill is biomechanically different than walking over the ground, by the way, but at least it's movement).  Simply standing to do all the work isn't really that great of an improvement over sitting for hours at a time -- the problem of not moving around enough is still there.

 

Dd is very anti-chair. She sits on the floor.  She squats. She sprawls on her stomach propped up on her elbows.  She also goes outside and walks around.  She hangs from the chin-up bar in the doorway.  

 

She also dances several days per week for a few hours at a time.  Really, though, the important thing is to incorporate movement into the entire day.  Office workers should set a timer to remind them to stand up and do a few stretches, if possible.  Kids need to start learning those habits, also.

 

I really like MerryAtHope's suggestions for getting her children moving!