Help Parents Take Action - Healthy Choices at Home

Active Families, Active Kids

Benefits of Staying Active
Ways to Keep Your Kids Active

Benefits of Staying Active

• Active parents have more energy for parenting and cope better with daily stress.
• Active kids learn and behave better in school.
• Activity helps everyone in the family get a better night's sleep.
• Being active helps develop strong bones and muscles and lessens your chances of developing many chronic illnesses.

Ways to Keep Your Kids Active

• Connect being active with feeling good and getting fit.
  Don't connect activity to weight change or weight management. Activity is important for kids of all shapes and sizes for fun and overall health, not because they need "improvement."
  
  
• Plan active family outings.
  • Go skating.
  • Hike or cycle together.
  • Walk the dog.
  • Throw a Frisbee.
  • Build a snowman.
  • Walk around the zoo or museum.
    
    
• Get everyone involved in active chores.
  • Play some music and do the housework together.
  • Rake the lawn.
  • Wash the car.
  • Do some gardening.
  • Shovel the snow.
  • Carry the groceries.
    
    
• Provide opportunities for kids to learn skills.
  Let your kids participate in activities that involve running, skipping, jumping, kicking, throwing and catching. Practice with them.
  
  
• Balance unstructured playtime with organized sports.
  Organized sports are a great way to keep kids active, but informal and unstructured playtime is important too! Teach your kids the games you enjoyed as a child like tag, skipping or hop scotch.

How Much Activity Do Children Need

• Limit screen time (TV, computer, video games) to two hours a day or less.
  
  
• Skip the elevator and leave the car at home.
  Encourage your kids to walk or bike to school, walk together to do errands in your neighbourhood and take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.