Want Your Child to Be More Active? Make Exercise Fun!
By Jane St. Clair
Many children who never exercise actually want to be more active -- and the best way to encourage them is to make exercising seem like fun, according to two new studies.
The first study was from the University of Leeds in England.
- Professor Reema Sirriyeh and her colleagues sent text messages about exercise to 128 participants ages 16 to 19 years old.
- Half the group received messages that made exercise sound like fun, such as, "Physical activity can make you feel cheerful."
- The other half received messages that emphasized health benefits, such as, "Physical activity can keep your heart healthy."
- After two weeks, the group with the "fun" messages increased their activity level by two hours a week, compared to a half-hour increase for the group as a whole.
"Our study shows that for inactive teenagers, emphasizing the emotional benefits of exercise may be a more effective way to increase exercise than highlighting traditional health benefits," said Dr. Sirriyeh, writing in the British Journal of Health Psychology.
The second study surveyed 1,000 children in fifth and sixth grades as well as their parents, teachers and principals.
- The average student in the study spent three hours a day in front of television, video games, or computers.
- Nevertheless, the students were aware of the benefits of exercise, and 75 percent of the girls and 65 percent of the boys told the researchers that they would do more exercise if they had the chance.
- Their parents perceived their neighborhoods as safe for children so that was not the issue.
This study, by Professor Leonard Piché at Brescia University College at the University of Western Ontario appeared in the Journal of Nutrition and Education and Behavior.
Comments
Wholesale ghd and ghd wholesale benefit us a lot. We could find all kinds of ghd straighteners wholesale online now. Among those ghd straighteners cheap, GHD MK4 pink and GHD Kiss are welcomed by more and more people. Ghd straighteners benefit us more in 2010. Cheap ghd straighteners online could benefit us in our everyday lives. Ghd iv styler is one kind of special ghd. All of my classmates tell me that Instyler Rotating Hot Iron and Instyler Rotating Iron are also not bad hair styler tools.
CHI Flat Iron;
GHD MK4 Pink;
GHD Pretty in Pink;
GHD Precious Gift Set;
GHD New RARE Styler;
GHD IV Salon Styler;
GHD Babyliss;
GHD Benefit;
GHD IV Mini Styler;
GHD IV Styler MK4 Dark;
GHD IV Styler MK4 Gold;
GHD IV Styler MK4 Kiss;
GHD IV Styler MK4 Pure;
GHD IV Styler MK4 Purple;
GHD IV Styling Set;
GHD MK4 Black;
GHD MK4 Black;
GHD MK5 Dark;
GHD RARE Styler;
Newest Instyler Rotating;
Instyler Rotating Hot Iron;
New Instyler Rotating Iron.
Leave a Comment