Kids, Parents, And Exercise – Why Leading By Example Doesn’t Work

As a parent, one of my greatest concerns is the well-being of my kids.   Health and exercise are natural extensions of this concern.  After all, you don’t have to look very hard to find the next article on child obesity.

In fact, this was one of the drivers for me to start my weight loss journey.   Recognizing that I needed to improve my level of fitness was easy.  Hoping to lead my kids by example helped provide part of the impetus to get me started.

I’m starting to believe that’s not enough.

Does Leading Your Kids To Exercise By Example Actually Work?

I’ve gotten relatively disciplined about fitness and health.   I exercise 4-6 times each week, for 30-45 minutes at a time. My meals are relatively balanced and healthy, with room for splurging.  And my kids watch.   They see what we do, and the choices we make.

And yet – they succumb to the junk food machine.  It pervades their thoughts…

What do they want for breakfast?   Cinnamon rolls!   Debbie cakes!  And the dreaded Toaster Strudel!

Dinner – Chicken nuggets with macaroni & cheese.

I have actually had arguments with my oldest, explaining to him why he doesn’t NEED to eat a 20-piece nugget.

I catch myself having similar arguments over ‘exercise.’  Although, for them, that usually entails being booted out from in front of the television, and sent outside to play.

OK – so I’m exaggerating.  A bit.  But my kids to have a love affair with junk food and sugar.  I can relate to this, because until a few years ago, I did as well.  I’m hoping they don’t have to go through that process.

When it comes to exercise, fitness, and eating, I’ve operated under the assumption that my kids would observe my actions, and through some mystical form of osmosis, incorporate those into their behavior. I’m coming to realize that I was wrong.

It seems my kids only tend to spontaneously emulate my negative behaviors. Let my language slip in front of them, and I’m sure to hear it parroted back at the worst possible time. But they’ll never recall my recitation of calories in that 20-piece nugget.

A recent bit of work corroborates this observation.   Turns out there’s no correlation between amount of exercise a kid receives, and their parents exercise level.   But – if a parent supports their kids fitness activities, the level of activity rises.

I suppose this makes sense.   What they’re telling me is that kids are mire likely to continue an activity that their parents support, rather than emulating behavior their parents behavior.   These two things are near-mirror images of one another.

So, this means we should tweak our approach slightly.   We need to encourage our kids to find their own healthy interests, and then do what we can to support that interest, rather than expecting them to take up our mantle.

I suppose this highlights to me the fact that parenting, as with do many things, is a continual learning process.

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3. Teaching Kids To Eat Healthy
4. You Can’t Exercise Enough To Lose Weight
5. Our Their Peers The Cause Of Obesity In Kids?