Dance Baby! My Daughter & Dance, Dance Revolution

We gave our daughter a Dance, Dance Revolution for Christmas and we picked up two dance pads so that she and my nephew could play together or we could join her. My nephew has played the game before and he had a blast the first time we set it up for him to play with her. Unfortunately, my daughter doesn’t recognize that he has done it before and was pretty intimidated by his ease with the process and that she couldn’t just get it right off the bat. Together, We Stand So yesterday, amongst all the cold and the wet … Continue reading →

Kid Fitness: The Burden of Being a Teenager

Being overweight can be hard on anyone, but it’s particularly hard on a teenager. Remember, teenagers are already under assault from a flood of hormones and social pressures. Too often, when you are different or less than pleasing as a teenager – other teenagers are far from kind about it. I remember once reading an article that detailed high school was a microcosm for the real world with every positive and negative experience heightened exponentially. I Was a Big Teenager I was not a petite teenager. I hit puberty before most of the others. I developed breasts and more. I … Continue reading →

Fitness & Wellness Coming Down to the High School Level

I was talking to a friend of mine from out of state the other day and she told me an interesting story about the local high school in her area. The schools there are relatively small – the grades K through 8 are at one school with 9 through 12 at another. The K through 8 school has only 125 students and the high school has about twice that number. The relative size of the school helps with the new fitness program they are instituting in their gym and physical education classes. By taking a page from the local University’s … Continue reading →

Make Exercise Cool

I don’t have a preteen yet, my daughter is just 6. But we had a tweenager/pre-teen living across the street and a couple of our friends have eleven and twelve year olds respectively. Sometime between elementary school where my daughter is now and middle school where their kids are – exercise and playtime becomes seriously not cool. For example, my daughter has two full recesses a day in elementary school: thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the afternoon. She also enjoys 50 minutes of physical education twice every six days. In middle school, there’s about fifteen minutes … Continue reading →

52% Believe Childhood Obesity is Society’s Problem to Solve

This is hardly a news alert and we’ve discussed the growing problem with childhood obesity in the United States. But according to a poll conducted by Research America and the Endocrine Society, 27% cited obesity as the chief health issue for their children. 16% named a lack of health care and insurance with 9% citing poor nutrition. More Poll Results Among the other results the poll revealed were: 57% believe that most adults are overweight or obese 35% believe that most children are overweight or obese 52% believe that obesity is a public health issue that needs to be solved … Continue reading →

Kid Fitness: Take Your Toddler Outside

In our urgency to protect our children from the world, we may go too far and protect them from the environment and keeping them cooped up in the house. We may overdo it and then television becomes a substitute for real experience and it’s important to remember that going outside for your toddler is going to be as hard as getting a bird to fly – they only need one thing: you. Toddlers love the outdoors, they love to go out and play and walk and run and dance. They love the grass and how it feels against their feet. … Continue reading →

Fitness Gifts for Kids

So you’re standing in the middle of Toys R Us and you’re staring at this absolute plethora of games, video games, toys, dolls and more. The music overhead is just this side of monotonous and you’re looking down at the Christmas wish list written by your child and the mind just boggles. You want to give your child a great deal of opportunities. You want to give your child the chance at a better world, a better one than you have known and ultimately you want to leave to them what you know. Don’t Just Go for What’s Hot Right … Continue reading →

Kid Fitness: Three in Ten Children Are Obese

That’s a terrifying number. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the number of children with obesity in the 6 to 11 year old range has quadrupled in the last 25 years. The American Obesity Association says that three in ten American children are overweight with the highest numbers happening among Hispanic, African-American and Native American children. Obesity comes with it’s own particular health problems including heart disease and diabetes that can continue to affect them throughout their lives and there is a very real belief that obesity could soon top smoking as the most preventable cause of … Continue reading →

Fit Family – Miami Moms Take Action

I love Moms – have I mentioned that? When faced with a need, Maria Sanz, a mother of four, decided to create the fitness magazine she wanted for her kids. Their fitness magazine is called Be Fit Kids and it offers a bimonthly issue with articles of interest for children ages 8 to 14. Sanz’s goal was a magazine that encouraged kids and their parents to live healthy, smart lives. Hero Worship The magazine offers to supplement the hero worship that some kids feel with interviews and features on high profile athletes and interviews with some that are done by … Continue reading →

New Kids on the Climb

My husband enjoys rock climbing. He and friends have periodically made visits to an indoor climbing gym about five or six miles from here where they can go and spend a few hours taking the lazy way up the wall or the hard and arduous way. Rock climbing is a great way to get an overall body workout and for the many people who enjoy the sport – it’s a great deal of fun. Kids on the Move So imagine my surprise when I took my daughter to a birthday party last weekend on and one of the features at … Continue reading →