What is exercise?
Body movement till the heartbeats increase noticeably is exercising. It gives power to the body from within and keeps the person healthy.
How to exercise?
1. Warming up- prepare before exercising.
2. Aerobic cardio activity- exercise which strengthens the heart and the lungs.
3. Stretching- muscles should be stretched.
4. Cool down- after the exercise cool the body down by gradually reducing the pace of activities.
Eat carefully
Concentrate fully on the food while you are eating. Enjoy the color, aroma, touch and possibly even the sound of the food. Remember you enjoy the potato wafers more because of the crunchy sound they make. Chew the food completely, till all its taste is gone from the mouth. It will help in digesting it.
Drink 3 liters of water everyday
We need water for the process of digestion so drink small quantity of water while eating. Those living in Mumbai must drink 3 liters of water daily.
About ‘shit’
Parents feel that the child must shit every day. So they force him in the toilet and the child passes stool with a lot of strain. Please avoid this. There is no rule that every person must pass stool every day. But passing stool with effort and strain is not good for health. It could be one of the causes of obesity. With loose motion a person is depleted of strength because the intestines loose the power to hold. When the stool is ready, it leaves the body without straining or discomfort. Do not force it out.
We have a problem of obesity among children simultaneously with the problem of malnutrition. Many parents are worried about obesity among children because obesity makes the children lazy, morose and cranky. Many other health related issues crop up from this. We had a dialogue with Dr. Chiplunkar, who is an expert in this area, on this problem. The simple remedies suggested by him will be definitely helpful to the children as well as their parents.
Among the various causes of obesity, one important cause is that most of the families have a single child. As a result of this, the children have no company at home, nobody to play with and they spend most of their time in front of the TV or playing computer games. They are addicted to these idle pastimes and do not have physical movements for hours together. The result is obesity. Secondly, since both parents are working the family is financially well off. The parents have less time for the child and prefer to give him whatever he wants just to keep him quiet. This trade-off between the parents and children results in chocolates for the child and keeping to the schedule for the parents. The children end up chewing high calorie food most of the time. The third reason is lack of playgrounds in the urban areas. Most children do not have the option of outdoor games. This results in reduced physical activity and causes obesity. If the children become more active, this problem of obesity can be tackled.
Understand the child’s inclination
Every child has a typical bend of mind according to which he likes certain sports and activities. Parents have to understand this and plan their activities. If a child likes indoor games more, let him have it but make sure they get some regular physical exercise.
Do not compromise on discipline
It is most vital to discipline a child. If the child plays computer games for 4 hours daily, then it should be restricted to 1 hour only. There should be rules such as: If he studies for 4 hours, then he can play video games for 1 hour, or whatever time he spends in outdoor games will be the time he will be allowed to play indoor games. The habit of perpetually eating something should also be strictly curtailed.
Inculcate good habits
Nowadays, hardly any children walk to school, because of distances. But if the school is not too far, encourage the child to walk to school. Another modern day bad habit is eating while watching TV. This affects health in two ways. First, the food is not properly chewed and enough saliva does not get mixed with it. This affects digestion of the food. The carbohydrates are undigested and fats accumulate. Secondly, because the attention is on the TV, often there is no control over the quantity of food eaten.
Get exercise done without conscious effort
If you force discipline on the child, they will either revolt or follow unwillingly. So, devise novel exercises which do not look like forced discipline. You can tie a toy at a height just beyond his reach and ask him to jump and touch it if he wants something. You can make him skip a rope while learning arithmetical tables. Find new games involving physical activity combined with learning.
Set an example
The parents often complain that the children eat while watching TV, they like junk food, they do not eat vegetables etc. Unfortunately, the parents are doing the same things themselves. The children are copycats and so the parents have to set an example through their own daily behavior.
Overprotection
One cannot learn how to ride a bicycle without falling down at least once. It is true that while learning anything, some injury or loss of pride is bound to happen. Some parents do not send their child to play for fear of injury or hover around trying to protect the child. They do not understand that they are depriving the child from natural freedom and the opportunity to learn from failure. By giving the child the training to cope with different situation, the parents are actually helping him to become independent.
Problems faced by girls
Due to the shortage of open spaces for children to play, most of the available space is taken up by the boys to play cricket. This leaves the girls with no option but to remain indoors. The solution is to allow or even encourage the girls to play outdoor games along with the boys. As the girls grow up the restrictions increase which denies them the opportunity to participate in outdoor games. This mentality has to change, if the girl wants to swim or play tennis, she should be encouraged to do so. No discrimination please!
Avoid extremes
Extreme behavior is to be avoided, whether it is watching TV or playing computer games or discipline or exercise or whatever. Plan a balanced life of study, mental and physical activities for your children. That would help them fight obesity.
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