Activity Ideas to Get the Whole Family Moving

Adults and children both need regular exercise to keep healthy, but unfortunately many of us often don't get enough.  Adults are busy juggling jobs, home life, family and other relationships; and even kids who attend physical education class or play a sport sometimes don't get the recommended amount of exercise.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, young people should get up to 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

With childhood obesity rates on the rise, it's important to encourage your family to stay active.  Everything your family consumes is stored as energy, and if that stored energy isn’t used, it can lead to weight gain. Being active helps use up the calories you store from everything you eat over the course of a day.

Fortunately, exercise doesn't have to be a chore or take up a ton of time.  In fact, it may be easier than you think to get the entire family involved and incorporate movement into everyday family activities.  Here are just a few ideas:

• Taking walks
• Playing at the playground
• Scavenger hunts
• Hiking
• Frisbee
• Interactive video games
• Rollerblading
• Biking
  

Also, don't forget to let your family know the other important benefits of being active besides keeping trim.  It helps keep stress levels low, helps increase energy, improves sleep, alleviates boredom, strengthens bones and muscles, improves self-esteem, builds overall endurance, and more.

Allegheny Medical's WellnessCare can provide you and your family with information, encouragement and treatment plans to help improve your health.  We offer lecture topics on get moving family activities as well as complimentary consultations.  Give us a call at (412) 494-4554 today.