Keeping fit should be child's play

finger on the pulse

My three kids were only into their first week of Easter holiday when they started moaning about being bored. I, of course, replied, "In my day..." but they quickly reminded me that it was not "my day" any more.

However, when I was a child, I'd go off for bike rides with friends in the nearby lanes and build dams in the streams, only returning home in time for supper. As well as having a good time, such natural exercise had positive health benefits. Unfortunately, times have changed and we don't allow our kids the same freedom because we're scared for their safety. So, I have to organise their activities, which usually also means ferrying them to and fro.

Of course, there's a penalty to pay for doing this. As well as expecting us to organise everything for them and appearing unable to think for themselves (perhaps that's why they complain about being bored so often), children today are less active and fatter than 20 years ago. A recent survey of 10,000 children in England, Scotland and Wales found them to be 24 per cent fatter than their predecessors. The Scots were worse than the English, and boys worse than girls.

This doesn't surprise me. When the "plonker" for the TV broke, my children protested about having to get up off their bottoms to change channels. Getting them to go out for a walk is a real challenge. Today, the average number of miles children walk has fallen by 20 per cent compared with 10 years ago.

We know children aren't as fit as they were because we don't let them out, but why are they fatter?

For many parents, after-school activities mean preparing several meals between 5pm and 8pm. It is much easier to serve up a quick snack or stop for a burger on the way home. We are becoming like the Americans, a nation of "grazers", drifting from one snack to the next, and never sitting down to eat together.

Last year, we went on holiday to Walt Disney World and my kids could not get over some of the enormous people we saw there, all constantly snacking. We saw one family, with two kids of about seven and 10 years of age, sitting by the pool. They were all wildly overweight and spent the afternoon eating. Not one of them swam - their activity was to watch others and exercise their jaws.

Getting my kids to enjoy exercise has required persistence. We tried swimming, archery, fencing, horse- riding, canoeing, sailing, trampolining, gymnastics and more, until we found something they all enjoyed. They don't see exercise as forced upon them but something that they want to do.

We have also tried to make weekends a time to sit down together and eat a proper meal, rather than snatching something convenient. Usually the snacks that the kids want to eat are high in fat and carbohydrate, hence the weight gain. Our family meals are supposed to be a time to dismiss the events of the week calmly over a meal lovingly prepared by myself. I read all about doing this in one of my psychology books on "How To Be A Functional Family". But it usually ends up with high-level discussions raising the roof when they hit 100 decibels, and one child going off in a "strop", because someone "is looking at them". Such is my attempt at the perfect family life!

Getting kids to eat properly is a long-term project. Laying on an exercise programme also means that you have to make a continued effort. The aim is to set up patterns of eating and activity that they will continue into adult life.

Of course, when you're busy working and just getting yourself through the day, it can be easier to allow them to "veg out" in front of the telly with instant noodles. At least if we can try to be good parents some of the time, and acceptable parents most of the time, then there is some hope for the future health of our kids.