This Parental Activity Will Determine Your Child's Health

The moment you become a parent, all priorities shift to your child. What are the actions you can take to provide the path to the best possible future for your kid? One of the most important considerations is the child’s physical health.

Regular physical activity is vital for growth and development. Most chronic diseases are entirely preventable if a child includes exercise as part of their daily life. The global recommendation for children is 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily. And as any parent knows, this is also essential for not having a little human tornado ripping through your home, wreaking havoc. Unfortunately many kids do not meet the recommendation and the World Health Organization has now classified physical inactivity as one of the highest mortality risks worldwide.

The good news is, this is 100% reversible, natural, and without financial burden.

So, how do parents fit into this? Parents’ exercise habits have a direct impact on that of their children. Parents who got 10,000 steps in on a weekend had children that were up to 5 times more likely to meet their own activity recommendations.

Parents who exercised 4 hours per week at a moderate to vigorous intensity, had children who exercised an average of 70 minutes more on a weekly basis than their counterparts with parents who only exercised 30 minutes per week.

Does 4 hours per week sound like added stress to your life? Reframe your own workout time as an investment in their kids’ long-term health. This is a win-win for the parent and child.

If this stress adds up over time, it can have deleterious effects on your health, which have a knock-on effect on your family and work-life. This is why as chiropractors, we check the effects of stress on our clients and help them adapt to that stress better.

At Atlas we find that parents who prioritize their own health tend to want to have their children’s health taken care of as well. This is why we see family members of all ages to ensure that the whole family is living a healthy lifestyle.

‍

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8656881/

‍