What young person isn’t spilling over with enthusiasm for physical movement, especially when the motivation to move is all about fun, participation and being a part of that which brings joy? Let’s face it. Given the opportunity, we’d all prefer to be in that mode every waking hour.
Ah, but life gets in the way. We have to wake up on time, leave home on time, get to work and school on time. By late afternoon, we pretty much rush around to complete the same story, different setting. Somewhere in those waking hours, we as adults need to instill healthy habits in our youth. The adage “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” didn’t come about through casual observation. The saying has been around for so long because it rings true. Make sure it rings true in your family by serving as an example of prioritizing physical health – not by being a computer addicted, energy zapped couch potato at the end of the day.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, inactive children are likely to grow up to be inactive adults. Of course, along with that inactivity comes health risks. You can bring those risks to a grinding halt by taking a few simple steps to get your family to move in ways that are fun for everyone, particularly the young people whose need for ownership must not be overlooked. Here’s one suggestion to help you to get started on a family-wide movement overhaul:
• Have a family meeting, and discuss the physical games and physical activities that are fun for every family member.
• Have every family member record two or three favorite physical activities on individual index cards.
• Place the index cards in a covered box. Have the young people reach into the box to draw a single random card.
• On a calendar schedule that works for your family (hopefully a daily calendar), record the random card’s activity.
• Continue the card drawing until all seven cards for each day of the week are drawn and recorded on the calendar.
• Commit to full physical and mental engagement in the day’s activity for the amount of time that works for your family.
• At the end of the activity, allow the family member who chose the activity to take a photo of everyone who enjoyed the activity.
• Upon returning home, allow the family member who chose the activity to choose the healthy meal for the evening.
Take these suggestions and rework them to fit your family’s situation. Don’t start tomorrow. Start today. It’s important to shoo away the no-fun, highly regimented, minute-by-minute military style workout that gets the job done. It’s important to instill in our youth – through our own joyful participation, our verbal language, our body language, our facial expression, our intonation – that a commitment to physical activity is fun is stress-relieving and can be habit-forming in a good way.
While prioritizing physical movement you will need comfortable and supportive footwear. Slippers are often the default footwear in Hawaii, but they’re awful for your body. No support for your arches, toes scrunching to keep them on, and your foot sliding all over the place—these contribute to increased risk of injury as well as foot, knee, and back pain. That’s why our friends at Wiivv have completely re-designed the sandal. Ready to meet your new favorite slippers! The Wiivv Sandals’ custom arch, toe thong, and straps work together to hug and support each unique foot, preventing slipping, flopping, unnecessary ankle rotation, and keeping your foot in place for optimal movement. They convert your unique foot data into 3D-printable files in seconds. Each order is quality checked by a biomechanics expert to ensure you’ll get the best product possible. Genius! They are so comfortable and will help you keep up with your keiki!
Wiivv | Comfortable and Supportive Custom-Fit Footwear
