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Home › Articles › Health › Let's Get Physical

Let's Get Physical

Helping Overweight Kids Get Active

By Alex Powell

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Because a child's immature metabolism isn't designed for sustained exercise, kids need to be active in short spurts. So if you want to go walk the track, says Dr. Sothern, "that's OK, but don't expect your 8-year-old to do it with you. Bring a tub of toys, a jump rope, a bike, a scooter, a ball. Let her play while you walk."

Exercise must be fun for kids to succeed. For instance, toning exercises didn't really interest Matthew Blake. But he did want a scooter. Before long, the former couch potato was zipping through the neighborhood. "He'd go for [an] hour and a half," says Blake. "I told him, if I'd known this I would have bought him a scooter a year ago." Riding the scooter raised Matt's fitness level quickly, and soon he was even more active, jumping on the trampoline and playing basketball. Matt lost 25 pounds following the Trim Kids fitness plan, and is now at a maintenance level. "It feels nice, and I noticed my reputation at school has been going upwards," says Matt.

Due to finding a new favorite sport, Cory Lang's activity level is the highest it has ever been and his general health is much better. So what's he doing? Riding the bike he got for Christmas. "I just learned how to do it and found out it's really easy and a lot of fun," he says.

The Homework Rule

Dr. Sothern has seen kids turn their life around with this ultra-simple rule. When kids come home from school, their brains are exhausted from studying all day. But their bodies are starving for activity. Instead of jumping straight into homework, try this:

Give them a big drink of ice water. Fluid consumption is limited at school and kids often come home dehydrated. If they are still hungry after drinking, offer a healthy snack. Send them off to play actively for 30 to 60 minutes before starting their homework.

Homework will get done faster and kids will feel better. "[For] lots of kids, their parents have done this for three months, and they've lost 20 or 30 pounds, they make better grades and they've gotten so good at shooting hoops they make the basketball team," says Dr. Sothern. "It's like night and day!"


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