Parents urged to get out, play with kids

Hey, parents. If you're worried that your

children have gotten too sedentary this winter, here's a word of advice

from the pros: Play with them. Shoot hoops, dance around the living

room, toss a ball, build a snowman.

Many exercise experts believe children today are too sedentary,

which is contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic with a third of

children weighing too much. The government's physical activity

guidelines recommend that children and teens do an hour or more of

moderate-intensity to vigorous physical activity daily.

One way to get them to move more is to go out and do things with

them so they're having fun, says Robert Malina, professor emeritus at

the University of Texas, Austin. Try to work in 20 minutes of activity

before or after dinner, he says.

Parents should listen to what their children want to do and then do

it with them, he says. "The children will learn from their parents, and

the parents will learn from their children. More importantly, they will

be together."

Brian Saelens, a children's obesity researcher at Seattle Children's

Research Institute, says children mimic their parents' sedentary

behavior just like they mimic their physical activity behavior. So if

parents are heavy TV watchers, their children tend to be the same.Saelens, who has three children under the age of 5, says when he gets

home, he doesn't watch TV with his children but dances, runs, wrestles

and plays with them.

Parents have to give their children the tools to be active by making

sure they have things like balls, Frisbees, jump ropes, hula hoops,