After a brief hiatus, our weekly Dear Heather … feature is returning to the fitness blog here at Families.com So if you have fitness questions, concerns or just want to know something, feel free to send it my way and I will do my best to get your questions answered.
Dear Heather,
I am very worried about my daughter. She’s 9 years old and she’s already much taller than most of the kids in her class or her age. But over the summer she started putting on weight and I know she is getting teased at school. I’m concerned about the obesity issue, but she has no interest in a lot of the team sports that I could sign her up for. When she comes home from school, she sits down in front of the TV., does her homework and that’s where she stays. She’s a straight A student and she’s very smart, but she prefers her television programs and books to being outside. I was wondering if a personal trainer might be a good idea, someone who would actively get her up and moving a couple of times a week. What do you think?
Worried Mom
Dear Worried Mom,
You can hire a personal trainer, obviously, but if you do – you want to make sure this is a person who really can work with your daughter. You also need to motivate her interests. If she likes books, maybe she would enjoy a ‘walk’ to the park to read. Or maybe she just wants company. I’m guessing here, of course, but I know that many children are more likely to be active when they either have their parents or other children to be active with.
She doesn’t need to like just sports, either. You could try out gymnastics, karate, dance class and more. It sounds like she needs her imagination to be engaged while doing her physical fitness and dance can do that.
However, if you want to go the personal trainer route, here are some things to keep in mind when investigating a potential trainer for your daughter:
- What is their experience in working with children? Do they recognize the needs of a child’s shorter attention span and their lack of interest in repetitive exercise?
- Can they work with your daughter? After the initial interview, you want your child to meet them and see if there is a natural chemistry between the two. It’s important to recognize that kids want to impress people who aren’t their parents, so they need to want to impress this person to work with them
- Is your child mature enough to handle working with the trainer? Can they follow instructions? Are they prone to temper tantrums? How would the trainer handle a difficult child who doesn’t want to do what they are being asked to do?
- How involved will you be? Are you going to work out with them, be present or just drop her off and pick her up? What is the personal trainer’s preference? I’d think initially, you need to be involved and present
- What is the trainer’s focus? You’re looking for someone who targets skill above strength and endurance, remember, your daughter’s body is still developing – so maybe the trainer can work with them on mastering roller skates, basketball and other skills that will let them be more physically active
- Aerobic training is an iffy because our kids have smaller hearts and they have to beat faster anyway. Games of tag, kickball and other related sports are better than grinding away on the treadmill
Be sure to check the trainer’s references prior to any commitment and you may want to consult with your child’s pediatrician before starting her on a new physical regimen. Good luck.