Getting fit for fun: God made our bodies to work and play, so our bodies crave exercise and reward us by great afterward.

My one-and-a-half-year-old never walks. Like most toddlers, Katie jumps, hops, or runs instead. When filming the movie Kindergarten Cop, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was similarly impressed by the enthusiasm of the child actors for the exercise scenes. They enjoyed them so much that the producers added more. Kids, concludes Schwarzenegger, are naturally drawn to exercise.

Yet as we age we often neglect physical activity, and unfortunately our children are copying us. It is now estimated that more than 33 percent of American adults are obese, along with more than 20 percent of children.

Being overweight itself is not the primary health problem; it is that most who are overweight are also physically unfit. The benefits of exercise elude them: a longer life, a lower risk of depression, higher self-esteem, fewer common illnesses, and fewer debilitating illnesses. For children, fitness has also been associated with increased academic performance and decreased undesirable adolescent behaviors, like drinking and smoking.

One of the best legacies we can give our children is the habit of exercise. Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the "father of aerobics," says in his book Kid Fitness that the easiest way to do this is to exercise with them. Exercise then also becomes a time to develop your relationships. With so many families lacking quality time together, exercise provides a wonderful opportunity to have fun together in a nonthreatening environment.

Dr. C. Everett Koop, former surgeon general, says fitness should be a "family value" because of the physical and psychological health it promotes. Yet as wonderful as this sounds, few of us follow through.

Only 10 percent of adults exercise enough to achieve fitness. And only 32 percent of children can pass a basic fitness test. Laziness can't be the problem. Parents today face so many demands that exhaustion is their default state. Instead, I believe our inactivity stems from our attitudes about exercise: it's hard, it's time-consuming, and it's boring.

It's Difficult

My mother-in-law spent her childhood in a rural East Coast town with her 13 siblings. She recalls eating all the traditionally high-fat foods, yet the family did not become overweight because there was simply so much to do to run the household.

Few of us today have such physically demanding lives. A Scottish study found that in the past 25 years energy expenditure has dropped by 800 calories a day. Exercise is hard because it requires more effort than we are used to.

Yet it is not only in our errands that we pass up chances to exercise. Most of us spend leisure time watching TV or playing computer games. When we moved to our new house, our once-central television set was relegated to the basement. As a result my toddler cut her viewing time by about 75 percent, without any effort on our part.

Instead of the television being the focal point of your home, create a central, comfortable place where children are free to jump or wrestle, and set up your own equipment. Then choose to walk, jog, or bike on short outings. Making these small changes allows activity to become a natural part of your life with little extra effort.

It's Time-consuming

The guidelines for exercise used to be intimidating 30minute bursts at least three times a week. Few of us can free up these blocks of time, so we don't even try. However, researcher Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute of Aerobic Research in Dallas says that smaller time units may still provide many health benefits. So how much is enough? Blair says, "Doing something is better than doing nothing at all, and doing more is better still." Even 10 minutes at a time, if you keep at it, can build fitness.

We may also shun exercise because it robs us of time to do other things. But exercise can easily be incorporated into other activities, says Janet Waiberg Rankin, associate professor of exercise physiology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Whatever you normally do, just turn the speed a notch higher, and you'll become more fit.

It's Boring

Our final misconception is that exercise is a chore. According to psychologist Keith Johnegard, "inactivity is an unnatural state for human beings." God made our bodies to work and play, so our bodies crave exercise, and reward us by feeling great afterward. With so many ways to stay active, you don't have to try something you hate. Find something that's fun for you, and your children will gravitate to it.

Giving children--and yourself--a harmless way to release energy has one other benefit: it makes household life far more peaceful. You and your children will burn off steam, resulting in less whining, fewer fights, and a quieter household. But perhaps best of all, you will have more energy to accomplish the many other things you need to get done.

Family Exercises

You're pumped to move, you have 10 free minutes, your children are ready, but what activities should you do that constitute "exercise"?

Health expert Dr. Robert Cooper says our bodies need two forms of activities: aerobic exercise to improve your cardiovascular system, and strength training to develop muscle tone and bone density. You know you're exercising aerobically when you can talk, but only with difficulty, while strength training is adequate when you are stretching your muscles beyond your everyday requirements.

The following list combines both of these elements. Use it as a jumping board to finding your own family's fitness style.

Birth to 18 Months

1. Get on the floor and crawl with your baby. Encourage them to move by placing colorful objects just out of their reach.

2. Lie on your back with your baby on your legs. Do leg lifts. Older toddlers still love this "airplane" game.

3. Wrestle with your baby with lots of tickles and kisses.

4. Take swimming lessons.

5. Instead of using the stroller, use a backpack or a front carrier to maximize the benefits of walking.

Preschoolers

1. Chase kids around the yard or basement; play tag, freeze, or hide and seek. 2. Move and jump to tapes, action song videos, or even kid fitness videos.

3. Practice throwing, kicking, and catching a ball.

4. Have a cleanup race: set the timer for five minutes and see how much you can tidy up.

5. Act out stories you read.

6. Have tickle fights or play wrestling matches.

7. Join play gym groups at the local YMCA or gym. You'll use gym equipment you wouldn't normally have, and meet other neighborhood families.

8. Attach a knotted rope or gymnastics style-rings to a tree or indoor wooden beam for children to practice lifting themselves up on.

School-Age Children

1. Bike on short errands.

2. Get a trampoline.

3. Jog to the corner store, and reward your kids with a low-fat treat.

4. Have skipping contests.

5. Play hopscotch.

6. Find a family sport, like skating, skiing, biking, or basketball. Hold sports parties for the neighborhood.

7. Take camping holidays, and canoe, hike, and swim.

8. Play Frisbee in the park.

9. Go tobogganing (watch out for trees and rocks!).

When you turn active times into family times, you will spend more time with your kids, have more fun with them, and have more energy. Do a little more each day, and you'll grow fit as you teach your children to care for the amazing bodies they've been given. What better motivator do you have to get up off the couch and get moving!

Did you know ...?

Five Fitness Facts for Kids

* Up to 5 percent of American children are not getting enough exercise to develop healthy hearts and lungs.

* Forty percent of American children already exhibit at least one symptom of heart disease.

* Over the past 15 years the number of children who could pass a basic fitness test dropped by 25 percent (from 43 percent to 32 percent).

* Children watch on average 25 hours of television a week.

* Organized sports do not necessarily help children become fit if they participate in a sport with a lot of downtime (i.e., baseball, football).

Taken from Kenneth Cooper, Kid Fitness (New York, Bantam Books, 1991), and the results of National Health and Nutrition examination surveys, published on the Internet.

Did you know ...?

Five Fitness Facts for Adults

* After age 40 the typical American becomes less active with every passing year.

* Over the course of a day an unfit person's heart has to beat 50,000 more times than a fit person's head.

* A quarter of a million deaths per year can be attributed to physical inactivity, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

* People who exercise suffer from fewer common colds, flus, and respiratory infections.

* People who are physically active are less likely to overreact to daily hassles.

Adapted from Dr. Robert Cooper, Low-Fat Living (Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press, 1996)

Increase in Prevalence of Obesity in Children

Percentage   Time
Obese

1960          12
1970          13
1983          18.6
1995          21.6

Adapted from Katherine Kaufer Christoffel et al., "The Epidemiology of
Overweight in Children: Relevance for Clinical Care," Pediatrics
101 (No. 1) (January 1998): 103-105, Kenneth H. Cooper, Kid
Fitness (New York: Bantam Books, 1991).

Sheila Gregoire is a writer living in Belleville, Ontario, Canada.