Not the Hulkling, but active children

In a world where video games are becoming almost as crisp and bright as our most vivid imaginations and the percentage of childhood obesity is on the rise, we need to teach our children to cherish exercise and playing outside.  Now I know we all want our children to study and get great jobs and flourish, but I think we need to compromise on this little thing.  Let's say that your child gets out of school at 3, and you make him do his/her homework before they can play or watch TV.  Well if your child has say 3 hours of homework and you have dinner at 6, which takes an hour when is that child able to play outside?  That is correct they probably aren't.  Why don't we let children play for a couple of hours after school say from 3-5, then an hour of homework, dinner at 6, and finish the two hours up after dinner.  This would mean that your child would be in bed by 9pm.  I think that is pretty far given the state at which our waistlines are headed.

Evidence suggest that behaviors established at a young age persist in adulthood.  If you're a parent, you probably believe in the evidence -- thats why you don't want your children "picking up bad habits" from other children, or hanging out with "the wrong crowd."  But this "evidence" might not be quite accurate, at least not when we consider a potential "good" behavior -- physical activity.  According to a recent study, simply increasing the amount of exercise as a child doesn't necessarily mean that your children will exercise as adults.  The study compared two adult groups: one that received five hours of physical education weekly for six years during primary school, and a group that received only the standard physical activity requirements (about 40 minutes per week).  Questionnaires completed by the groups showed that childhood physical activity did not have a significant effect on attitudes toward, frequency of, or intentions to exercise as adults.  The authors believe that consistent exposure to the process of exercise, and to an overall health-oriented program in childhood, may be a more important contributor to positive exercise/fitness patterns in adulthood.  Don't just encourage (or pressure) your children to participate in sports.  Teach your children the value of staying healthy and active, and schedule them for regular visits with your family chiropractor to main fitness level.optimalwellnesstx.com