I write a monthly article for my homeowner’s newsletter focused on Family, Fitness, and using Social Media to help families. Here is this month’s article:
live fit and sore — The Villager – Aug 2010 page 16
Creating Healthier Families
I recently read that only a third of all Americans now meet
the government’s minimum guidelines for physical activity
which are at least 21/2 hours a week of moderate-intensity
activity. Combine that with the rising rates of childhood
obesity, and it’s become very clear that everyone needs to
focus on encouraging and inspiring our future generations
to understand and incorporate healthier lifestyle behaviors.
Many companies have begun to encourage and inspire
families to live healthier lifestyles by developing programs
focused on fitness and health. We all know that some
corporate programs are developed as a direct response
to a recent media trend, but educating and encouraging
families on how to live healthier lives is one that will have
ongoing, long-term benefits for everyone.
Here are some family-focused health and fitness
programs that I have come across, developed by some
well-known companies:
REI Family Adventures – http://bit.ly/cVyWpU
REI, an outdoor recreation lifestyle store, is offering
REI Family Adventures, a summer program aimed at
encouraging families to get out outside and be active. The
program suggests and encourages all types of outdoor
activities in a fun and interactive way to inspire a future
generation of outdoor enthusiasts. The program offers a
free downloadable adventure journal, certificates, information
and advice on different types of outdoor activities
including kayaking, geo-caching and hiking.
Families can also get advice from REI’s experts to plan
fun and affordable ways to spend time outside. You can
find checklists, tips and videos to help you plan campouts,
day trips and more.
Fit Generation – http://bit.ly/c1VeeQ
Parenting Magazine has launched a program called Fit
Generation that is focused on helping fight childhood obesity.
This program offers ideas, information and support about
starting down a path toward a healthy and active lifestyle.
You can get advice about which toys will encourage and
increase your child’s activity level, ideas about how to get
your family excited about fitness, and even find information
about which Wii games will increase their activity level.
They also have a kid’s nutrition area where they offer a
lot of ideas about getting kids to eat healthier. My kids are
always asking for a “snack,” especially now that summer
is here. Fit Generation has some quick, easy and healthy
snack ideas that I am going to try.
Family Fitness Challenge – http://bit.ly/9UsXNU
USA TODAY is launching its Family Fitness
Challenge to challenge families to try some new activities
together so everyone in the family will be healthier. Each
week during the summer, they are featuring stories about
families who have accepted the challenge.
The ideas were created by top nutrition and fitness
experts and are designed to be fun recreational challenges
for families to do together. You can even share your adventures
and experiences with the Family Fitness Challenge
community online. The Family Fitness Challenge website
offers various videos, ideas about activities and photos from
participating families from across the country. It’s a great
site to get some fun and creative ideas to get active.
Whether you want to participate in an actual challenge
or not, you can use any of these programs to get ideas and
advice to develop your own game plan for incorporating
healthier behaviors for your family. These programs will
not only benefit you and your family’s health, it can also
help bring you closer together.
Visit my blog to find more family fitness ideas at
http://www.livefitandsore.com. You can also find support and
general information about fitness and nutrition. Make sure
to leave me a comment when you do visit to let me know
you are finding my information helpful. My hope is that
you find the right information to inspire you while on your
own fit and healthy journey. I enjoy the company!