How to encourage physical activity

[betsy]

I have a dcg that will be 4 years old in January. I am concerned about her diet and interest in physical activity. She is a skinny little thing, but I can see her having health problems if she continues down the path she is on.

My concern: she chooses 9 times out of 10 to just sit and watch the other kids run and be active instead of participating herself. I have two other kids her age that love to run, climb, jump and it is great watching them having such fun and getting good exercise. But this dcg would rather just sit and watch (preferably on my lap if I let her). I'm always asking/telling her to go run with the others, but she almost always says no. I will flat out tell her that she cannot sit with me/hold my hand and to go play. It is not that she is shy or anything.

I know at home that she still gets pushed in her stroller when she goes out with her mom, which I never do with her. She gets lots of walking done with me. Her mom also told me that she would just sit and watch tv all day if she let her.

I am always trying to encourage her with how much fun being active is, and how healthy food makes us strong and fast. I have the parents provide lunch everyday and her lunch is always a jam sandwich, yogurt, apple sauce, fruit punch. I am wondering if the food she is eating is affecting her energy level. I don't know for sure what food she regularly eats at home, though I know mom has trouble getting her to eat. I force her to drink water every day, it takes her half an hour to drink a 1/4 cup of water.

So I think it is part of her personality to be this way, but I just keep thinking more and more about the growing obesity problem in this generation of young people and I want this little girl to grow up without those problems.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Try initiating a game or physical activity - and participate in it. I find that kids have more fun and are more motivated when I do it too. We pretend to be animals (and imitate how they walk or move). I play monster with them and chase them around the room (with me crawling). Last year, my two year old and I pretended we've got an alligator in the basement (our designated play area), that the two couches that are set far apart are the safe islands. We never see that alligator but I make it so that we have to "swim" from one couch to another. This was her favorite game for the longest time - she would initiate it.
These days, my 10 months old crawler is usually the monster, or the alligator! He seems to understand the game!

I dance with the children. Older children love doing the tango dance with me as the partner (they take turns), or the dance where they get twirled around! I initiate babies into dancing by dancing to music as I carry them. After that I do my own push-ups while they play - they end up trying to imitate me. There are times when they aren't in the mood for this type of games but that's fine....I just make another thing up!

You'll most probably have to take her by the hand when you initiate a game/activity to get her going. Keep doing this and before you know it she'll get into it. I think she's just got to break out of that habit.

If you provide snack, perhaps you can give her less carbs but slip in more protein?

[AmandaKDT]

I brought up the topic of her not drinking very much water with her mom and it turns out it has been a struggle to get her to drink since birth, so I think they have resorted to offering her not so healthy things in the hope she will actually consume a decent amount of it. I'm glad I brought it up because it turns out the mom took her to the doctor a little while ago and the doctor told her to cut way back on the sugar. The dcg is very small for her age and the doctor is getting concerned about her development. She will likely go on supplements soon.

So I told the mom to send the foods that the doctor recommended and I will make sure she eats it - even if she sits there for an hour!

I already do all types of activities with them - yoga, games, dancing... But I can't force her body into doing natural active play with the other children. Perhaps if her nutritional problems get fixed she will have more energy and desire to run and jump more.

[daycaremom9]

I get stumped for outside activities especially for the younger kiddos. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!