SHERMAN OAKS, CA--(Marketwire - January 11, 2011) - The holidays can be a hectic time, when schedules and good intentions often take a back seat to shopping, to-do lists and entertaining family and friends. With the New Year comes another chance to focus on your family's healthy lifestyle, and the sooner you start, the sooner your family will begin to reap the benefits.
"At this time of year, lots of people are offering advice on how to make the New Year a healthy year, but it's really pretty simple," said Matthew Hendison, Chief Officer, Marketing and Entertainment of My Gym Enterprises. "Good nutrition and regular exercise are the foundation of a healthy lifestyle -- at any age."
My Gym Children's Fitness Centers combine innovative physical early learning/pre-gymnastic classes with state-of-the-art facilities to help children develop the skills, confidence and positive self-image needed to become healthy young adults. With a focus on nutrition and regular exercise for children, My Gym works to combat one of society's most troubling problems: the growing trend toward childhood obesity.
"Good nutrition fuels the body and exercise strengthens it," says Hendison. "But, keeping your kids active can be a challenge. The key is finding the 'fun' factor. We are always looking for new ideas and approaches to get kids excited about moving, but the tried-and-true can be a great place to start when you're trying to combat the dreaded 'I'm bored' syndrome at home."
For example, Hendison offers this list of simple, familiar activities developed by KidsHealth, an information resource from the Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health. It includes ideas to keep one, two or many children engaged and active.
Fun Activities for One
- Jump rope and count how many times you can jump before you miss
- See how long you can jump on one foot
- Use a pedometer to count the number of steps between favorite places inside and outside of your house.
Fun Activities for Two
- Start a ping-pong or tennis tournament for two
- Bat a balloon back and forth and try not to let it hit the floor.
- Have a handstand contest
Fun Activities for a Group
- Choose up teams and play your favorite sport
- Play follow-the-leader on bikes, blades or skates -- or even on foot
- Set up a scavenger hunt
"Good nutrition and energy go hand-in-hand," Hendison said. "That's why the success of any exercise program depends on a healthy diet." Healthy Child Healthy World, a non-profit organization that offers guidelines to help parents make healthier, greener food choices for their family's diet, says that whole, fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes (beans), nuts and seeds are the healthiest foods we can eat. They also recommend eating fewer and smaller portions of animal products, avoiding processed and packaged foods and serving a wide variety of locally-produced, in-season foods to your family each day.
"At My Gym, we keep the focus on fun, but we're serious about our commitment to good nutrition and healthy exercise," said Hendison. "You can make that same commitment to your family at home by limiting TV and gaming time, encouraging your kids to stay active, serving nutritionally-sound meals and keeping healthy snacks on hand. The Activators, My Gym's kids' fitness troupe, is another great resource for fun fitness activities that kids can enjoy at home." To access episodes of The Activators on the web, please go to www.theactivators.net or visit My Gym's corporate web site at www.mygym.com.
To schedule a free trial class, or for more information about all of their programs and schedules, please visit www.mygym.com.
About MY GYM Enterprises
Established in 1983, MY GYM is the #1-ranking fitness center destination for children with 200 locations worldwide, including such international locations as Hong Kong, France and Brazil among others. More than 30 additional locations are planned to open worldwide in next 12 months. For more than two decades, MY GYM has combined innovative, early physical education/pre-gymnastics classes with state-of-the-art facilities to empower children -- ages 6 weeks to 13 years -- by helping them acquire the skills, confidence and positive self-image needed to become healthy young adults. My Gym's award winning, structured, noncompetitive and age-appropriate classes enhance children's overall physical development through games, music, exercise, sports, gymnastics, puppets, special rides and fun! The children gain strength, balance, coordination, fine and gross motor proficiency, agility, flexibility and social skills. Mymo's Adventures earned the 2006 iParenting Award for Outstanding Children's DVD. The My Gym television show, My Gym At Home airs on BabyFirstTV, a 24/7 commercial-free channel focusing on children's development. My Gym is located on the Web at www.mygym.com. MY GYM is also the home of The Activators, an entertainment troupe comprised of actual MY GYM teachers designed to encourage children with messages of fun and fitness. The Activators is located on the Web at www.theactivators.net.