school Archives - Page 2 of 2

Now that school is nearly over, your kids are probably really excited about their soon to be freedom! It’s a bit of a change to how things normally are, it can be really tempting to just order a takeaway and put a film on to keep your kids entertained, but it’s really important to make sure that they get out and about during the summer.

Your kids are probably really excited that they’ll have a break from homework, deadlines and rushing to catch the bus. This break means that your kids (and you) now have time to relax. Obviously, you need to take a break from time to time, however, you should make sure that it doesn’t affect your kids negatively. Having a routine is good for them, so you don’t want to change it up too much.

Get them Moving

Taking too long a break can actually cause a lot more problems, as it can cause unhealthy changes. In fact, some studies suggest that summer may be the most fattening time of the year for kids. So, as a parent, you should be thoughtful about how much exercise your kid is actually doing during the summer holidays.

It’s important to make sure that they don’t spend all day in bed. Whilst you can give them the occasional one, you should still make sure that they get up and active most of the time. Otherwise when they go back to school at the end of the summer holidays, they’ll probably struggle to readjust to getting up early for school.

Create healthy habits

Junk food can have a pleasing taste due to the high levels of artificial sugars. However, they might create mayhem to your family’s moods and health. Nowadays, many kids are either obese or overweight. Therefore, creating a healthy lifestyle can play a significant role in maintaining weight. On many occasions, children that are overweight are very prone to heartburn, which can be caused by eating certain types of foods. Medications can be useful for treating heartburn in kids. However, consult your doctor before buying any heartburn medication, because there is a popular heartburn relief drug that has been recalled by the manufacturers.

Keep to your Normal Routine

This goes hand in hand with getting up early. Sure, you can have an extra half hour in bed if needs be, but don’t let yourself or your kids get into the habit of staying up late and getting up late. It’s a really hard habit to break. Why not make the most of the day and get up and out of bed as soon as possible? The weather’s great outside so you should definitely make sure to soak up some sunshine.

It might also help you to create a list of activities that you can do together. Make sure that you allocate a specific time for this. This way they’ll have something to do (just like they would if they had to get to school). So, this will help stop them just rolling out of bed and sitting on the couch all day.

Remember to Keep Cool and Have Fun!

While it’s important to make sure that your kids have a routine, you don’t want to overdo it. It’s vital that they have some downtime. This is particularly important as sometimes in summer it can get very hot and this can lead to dizziness, tiredness or even feeling faint. This is something that you want to avoid. So, one way that you can do this, is to have fun in a cool room inside your house. In order to do this, you might find it beneficial if you have an air conditioning unit installed in your house. If you don’t have one then you can always check out a website like airecontrol.com. Having an air conditioning unit installed can really help you stay cool and not get too hot during the summer.

It’s important to keep hydrated whilst the sun is shining. If you or your kids get too hot, then you might become ill and this is a sure way to ruin your holiday. You should make the most of those cool rooms that have nice air conditioning. However, if you do want to go outside, then make sure that you drink water regularly. Don’t forget to put plenty of sunscreen on your kids if they are spending all day outside. You can find about more about the right sunscreen to put on your kids here.

We all want healthy kids, right? So be a part of history in the making and take a stand by joining this challenge and maybe winning something for yourself.

Before I knew about this challenge from Tim Ferriss, I was already a backer of Standup Kids, an organization pushing to get standing desks in classrooms in all public schools across the US. If it really takes off, possibly kids all over the world will benefit!

When I worked in an office, before we had Avery, I was the only one on my floor to have a standing desk for a long time. And I really had to push and shove until I was able to have my desk converted to standing. Once they finally allowed it, all it took was a few bolts coming out, the desk getting lifted, and bolts back in…..simple. But geez, you would’ve thought I was asking for a group of servants to come and hold me on their shoulders as I worked all day!

Anyway, Standup Kids has a simply stated mission…..

The mission of StandUp Kids is to get every public school child at a standing desk in 10 years, to combat the epidemic of sedentary lifestyles and inactivity, and to better reflect 21st century education goals.

StandUp Kids provides education on the health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles and resources on why standing desks create an environment where children can become healthier and more active.

At StandUpKids.org, we believe children’s sedentary behavior is a public health crisis and that children need to MOVE MORE and SIT LESS. Standing desks are a simple and elegant way to create a movement rich environment where children are more engaged and perform better academically, burn more calories, eliminate or minimize orthopedic problems and disease, feel happier, and just plain move more.

While I don’t think they need to focus on the calorie burning effects of a stand up desk so much, the rising childhood obesity issue makes it a notable benefit to standing vs. sitting. And, well, if you haven’t noticed, kids do a lot of sitting.

Here is a downloadable PDF packed with info sure to motivate you to join the challenge and donate what you can for this to become reality: Standing vs Sitting_Standup Kids

Humans were never meant to sit for extended periods, and with recess time lacking in public schools, standing desks are a perfect way to keep kids healthy and learning better too. Check at these stats I found on the Standup Kids website.

Sitting too much causes disease and orthopedic dysfunction, and impedes children’s ability to learn.
Kids at standing desks burn between 15% to 25% more calories during the school day than the ones who remained sitting.
Obese students the desks had an even bigger impact, increasing calorie use by up to the 25% to 35%.
Small movements at standing desks, such as fidgeting, has a large impact on calorie expenditure.
Kids in standing classrooms are more engaged.
Classroom management is easier.
If kids are given the opportunity to move throughout the day, they will do so.
When students move more, their education improves.
Children feel happier when they can move more and aren’t restricted to a chair.
Classroom behavior improves with active learning.
Children who move more have greater creativity.
Educational test scores improve.
Students can shift their bodies and change position when they need to stay focused.
Standing prevents the body’s tissue adaptation to static positions (i.e. short hip flexors & hamstrings, rounded upper back, poor shoulder position) AND it does not erode the child’s physiology like sitting does.
Standing maintains the integrity of all the complex motor skills required for optimal physical function.
Reducing daily sedentary time literally reduces cell aging, which means kids will live longer and be more healthy.

Please check out the site to learn more on how you can help and why this means so much for the future of our kids. Oh yeah, and with the founders of this movement being Kelly and Juliet Starrett, the team behind one of the first 50 Crossfit affiliates and the site MobilityWOD.com which changed how we look at human movement and performance, I’d say they know a thing or two about why this is such a big deal.

I listen to several health and fitness podcasts where the well-known hosts in the industry are all getting behind this move and donating for the cause. Even a $1 will help get this project closer to its goal and the hopeful event that this will take off across the nation.

Here are the podcasts I listen to that have featured the movement:

Ben Greenfield Fitness

R Della Training

Tim Ferriss Show

However you get there, and whatever you do, please go to the donate page and give what you can and/or share with everyone you know to help spread the word.

As for the challenge Tim Ferriss is offering a giveaway for a round-trip ticket to just about anywhere worldwide as long as Star Alliance flies there. Supporting a feel good cause and possibly winning something like this? I’m in, are you?