How to turn fitness into a life skill for children

All parents want to equip their children with skills they can use throughout their lives. These include habits they form early in life. One of the biggest battles for parents today is getting kids off the couch and off the phone. We all know fitness is important. If we don't practice fitness as a habit, it's hypocritical to expect our children to do it. It’s never too late to turn over a new life in terms of healthy habits, so you can start with your kids. Here are a few tips to help you lead by example.  

Build an environment for fitness 
The activities you do as a family influence kids strongly. If your TV is always on and is the focal point of your living room, just like most Indian houses, then you're inviting the kids to sit down in front of the screen all day. So stick to TV hours or move it to another space. Encourage kids to do chores by doing them yourself. Don’t sleep with the mobile, use an alarm clock to wake up, instead of the phone alarm. Encourage kids to do the same. Start walking to neighbourhood shops instead of driving, and kids will follow suit. Aren’t these simple moves suddenly making your day more active?  

Make fitness fun  
A lot of children don't want to exercise because it's boring compared to the on-screen entertainment they're used to. Parents need to make fitness activities fun, not daily punishment on the yoga mat. Get younger children to play duck duck goose, leap frog and other active games. For teens, there are options like musical chairs, treasure hunt, trampoline jumping, Frisbee, hoops or the exer-cycle.   

Keep it unconventional 
Running with a pet, dancing, gardening – these are also fitness activities – though not typical exercise. Cycling out to get the milk every morning can be refreshing. Dancing to Bollywood numbers can be better than formal aerobics. If there is a fitness-inducing activity your kid loves, encourage it, it will stay for life.