Family exercise.

Family exercise can encourage good communication as well as socialization skills.

Mom, Ben got to watch that last week. It's my turn to choose." It's 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, and the Thomas family is sitting around the television discussing which program to view. At first glance it seems like an ideal family activity. However, not much conversation takes place after the program gets started.

A look at most evenings during the past several months have included this similar phenomenon. Just about 8:50 p.m. one of the children will say, "Hey, I'm starving. Don't we have any snacks?" Mom usually volunteers to get some treats before the next program begins. Within 5 to 10 minutes she returns with drinks and possibly chips, pretzels, popcorn, or cookies.

Welcome to family activity in the nineties. So much for anything physical, such as volleyball or kickball. Family exercise is on a downward trend. Television, videos, and computer games have moved in as major expenditures of our family time. Television alone is reported to occupy our children's minds and bodies for about 25 hours per week. Subtract the number of hours a child eats, dresses, sleeps, attends school, and watches television from the number of hours in a day, and there just isn't much time to do anything else. Parents have also had a busy day and are usually happy to collapse on the couch after dinner. Why bother organizing some type of physical activity? Here are several reasons.

Health. Although sitting down in front of a television seems like a good way to relax, it is probably not the most beneficial for your family's health. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study, childhood obesity has risen by 54 percent since the 1960s. Most likely this is a result of both changes in diet and exercise habits. Obesity is associated with many of the chronic diseases that plague our society today, including heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes. Kids who watch television two hours or more per day are also more likely to have elevated cholesterol levels.

In a study of 1,066 children and adolescents, Kurt V. Gold, a pediatrician at the University of California at Irvine, found that 53 percent of subjects with high blood cholesterol (200 mg./dl. or above for this age group) reported viewing two or more hours of television per day. For those subjects that had cholesterol values above 200 mg./dl. heavy television watching combined with a family history of heart attack or high cholesterol accounted for 9 out of 10 cases.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends just 20 to 30 minutes of vigorous exercise per day. The allotment will not only produce cardiovascular fitness, but also improve mental health. Physical fitness is associated with a decrease in anxiety, depression, and tension. Regular exercisers will experience an improved self-esteem and an increase in perceived physical competence, which will prepare children, adolescents, and teens to cope with stress better.

Do health factors play a significant role in motivating children and adolescents to exercise? According to Terri DeMarco and Dr. Ken Sidney in the Journal of School Health (October 1989), children participate in exercise for fun and socialization. However, by 12 or 13 years of age, reasons for participating in physical activity change from "having fun" to improving or maintaining health.

Communication/socialization. Family exercise time can be planned to encourage good communications as well as socialization skills. This is a time to be one another's support group or to discover the personalities and preferences of individuals in the family. It's a good idea to have one or two questions prepared to open the discussion. Some examples: Who had something terrific happen to them this week? How do you feel about the changes we proposed in allowances? What can we do for the coming weekend?

It's always possible that negativism, criticism, and complaining will try to sabotage the best activities. The family should decide ahead of time how these comments should be handled, and establish some rules. We have tried to establish a firm policy that once the activity has been decided upon, no further negative comments are acceptable.

The "we care" message. As parents, the "we care" message is one of the most important gifts we can give to our families. Family exercise is an opportunity to say quietly and consistently that we care enough to give the extra time and effort. No doubt it's a bother at times, but in the long run the return of special joy is worth the effort.

Making family exercise a success.

1. Plan ahead and schedule time. For instance, at the midweek meal have each family member make one or two suggestions for the next week's activities. Post these on the monthly activity calendar and make sure to allow for one weekly substitute in case there is a problem with the facilities, equipment, or weather. Also, make sure each activity is planned for at least 30 minutes of physical exercise, a minimum of three times per week. Weekends may allow for longer exercise sessions. This should be sufficient to benefit every age group. You should keep in mind that it may not be possible to meet the target heart rate of each individual in the family, but as children get older this will become more likely.

2. Parents need to be role models for physical fitness. Plan to participate in the activity, not just observe or referee.

Studies have found that by junior high school, girls in particular need more encouragement to remain physically active. This may stem from the belief that their parents fail to support their participation in exercise and sports or that physical activity is not necessary for their physical development. In addition, adolescents of both sexes who do not participate in physical activity are more likely to see the same-gender parent as physically inactive. Whenever possible, both parents should be included in the plan for physical activity.

3. Consider the age, gender, and developmental skills of each child when planning the activity. Can each family member participate and feel confident and in control with the activity? Of course, if you have children that range from 3 to 15 years, there will have to be some days when the activity is geared more to the younger child an other days when the activity is geared toward the older child. Each activity should have a component for everyone. Perhaps, bike riding may be too vigorous for everyone to keep the same pace on a trail, but one parent may ride with the younger children for half the trail while the other parent rides with the other children. Parents can switch groups at the appropriate halfway point.

4. Family exercise should be fun and full of self-expression. When our daughter was almost 4 years old we tried to indoctrinate her into walking and hiking for exercise. After about one-fourth mile she was weary of the whole activity and requested that her daddy carry her or his shoulders. Just about the time we ready to give up on this activity, we happened across a path with a lot of flowers, mushrooms, and other interesting plant life. All of a sudden it was a race to find the next treasure.

When we started hiking, we had forgotten to add some fun to the activity that we as adults already enjoyed. Now each hike is a hunt, an obstacle course, a story/memory time, or a safari, and we all seem to enjoy our activity time a lot more. Older children may be more creative in planning exercise. Encourage their self-expression as they suggest obstacle course runs, skating, kickball, gardening projects, balloon toss, and running games.

5. Don't forget to express how good it feels to breath the fresh air, to view God's creation, and how to enjoy each other's company. Let your children know that there is a health benefit to family exercise, that there is an eternal benefit to nurturing relationships, and that there is a spiritual benefit to developing self-worth, and do it all in the spirit of tolerance, fun, and love. Diane Butterworth, D.H.Sc., M.P.H., R.D., is a health and nutrition professor at Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina.