This morning I stumbled across a listing placed by a woman, a smart and concerned mother, who's looking for a personal trainer for her child. Her child is over-weight and now sadly suffers from diabetes. First, I have to commend this mother for taking action, for realizing the importance of getting her child physically active and back on the right track.

Since there is an extremely important message to be delivered here, one that I am very passionate about, especially since I have been blessed to have two beautiful and healthy children, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts and research I gathered on the topic of the negative effects of childhood physical inactivity, which childhood obesity is directly linked to. I am going to focus more on childhood physical inactivity, since childhood obesity is such a broad and involved subject. Although one is linked to the other, childhood obesity involves not only physical inactivity but diet, eating habits etc, which will be a different article altogether.

 Children being Over-Weight is not only unhealthy, it inhibits the proper development of good health and well-being patterns. In regards to childhood obesity, no matter if the child is ten pounds, twenty or more pounds overweight, stern lifestyle changes (diet and exercise) need to made ASAP and as childhood obesity is an ever increasing problem, the extreme Inactivity of today's children is a serious, dangerous and alarming problem facing parents (and their children) in the United States. Childhood obesity and childhood inactivity are obviously very connected.

Being a well-seasoned personal trainer at The Fitness Underground-Los Angeles, I find this rapidly developing trend and grim health hazard very disturbing. It blows my mind that so many parents are so ignorant or blind (by choice) to the dangers and seriousness of this growing health epidemic that is effecting our youth in America.

It's a fact that healthy children have a better chance of growing up to be healthy adults. It's a fact that over-weight and inactive kids become over-weight and inactive adults. It's a fact that this unhealthy circle rarely gets broken.

In addition, it's time for some parents to wise up and realize that they have to lead by example. Yes, be role models. This might sound a bit harsh and cold, but the truth is sometimes painful. When it comes to the health and well being of our children, I think a harsh comment is expected and appropriate.

A health study done at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, suggests that most American children (and teens) need to exercise more and that parents need to take control and seriously limit their children's time sitting in front of the television, surfing the internet, playing computer/video games (a study a recently read said on average many kids spend 45 hours or more in front of a screen) and control them from eating a lot less junk food.

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported that an alarming number of child and teens in the United States fail to meet even the very minimum requirements of 35 minutes of exercise daily (seven days a week) recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. What a stark contrast from when I was a kid; give me my string-ray bike and my baseball glove and I was gone and going non-stop for hours.

Another report I read on teens in the United States conducted by the American Heart and Lung Association, stated that on average more than 14 million teens failed to get at least four days of even moderate exercise per week and continued that very poor activity level as adults.

They also reported that children on a whole in the US are far less fit then the past generation. Many children are showing early signs of cardiovascular risk factors such as excess weight, high blood pressure, higher cholesterol levels (a low level of heart protective high-density lipoproteins (HDL), metabolic abnormalities and an increased rate of childhood diabetes. The AHA says that even though heart attack and stroke are rare in children, hard evidence now shows that in the youth of America the process of those life-threatening conditions begins in childhood. Now stop and think. How scary is that?

It's a sad fact that in the United States most schools don't have it in their budget or as an attempt to save money, have eliminated their physical education programs. Many schools that still have PE programs only offer them once or twice a week and at the usual 30-minute class, kids are hardly getting the exercise they need, especially since endless reports state few are getting it any where else. Don't you remember having gym class every day?

For younger kids that still have recess, I've seen first hand, rather than running around wild on the playground like I did as a kid, many kids today are sitting on their butts playing with their hand held video game or playing around on their cell phone; sorry, call me old fashioned, but I think this is just wrong. As math and science classes are important, physical education programs in schools are equality essential and should not be over looked as they are today. Besides the clear benefits of physical activity and the important development of physical skills, they teach our children important life lessons, social and mental skills such as teamwork, leadership, confidence, bonding, obeying rules and guidelines, the spirit of competition, the reality of winning and losing, good sportsmanship and respect just to name a few.

Well folks, since our children are now lacking the physical activity in school and they are not getting it on their own, it's more important now than ever that as parents we pick up the slack. It's our responsibility to get our kids "un-plugged and get them active."

Today, as parents we are facing a key decision to make. We have a choice, it's a choice we have to make now, there's no time to waste and personally, I see it as a monumental, critical and life saving choice. Here it is laid out in black and white, as clear as it can be.

Either you make a serious effort to get your children active and physically fit (including the needed lifestyle changes in regards to eating healthy) or own up to the fact that you are setting them up to suffer the grave consequences of poor health and unfortunately a host of illnesses later, in some cases sooner than later.

I didn't have to think twice to make this important decision for my kids. I am getting more involved to help my kids trade the virtual world for fun in the real world. I hope you decide to make the same choice. As I mentioned earlier, as parents we have to lead by example and since kids are such great imitators, it's one of the most effective methods of teach them.

Some people might immediately jump on the excuse train and say I have a busy and demanding work schedule, I just don't have the time. Well to be honest, you are just going to have to find the time, your children's health and well-being is just that important. Being a personal trainer, my time is in great demand and I often find myself working strange hours, but I don't let this stop me; if I am not available my mate makes picks up the slack and I'm always ready to help her when her schedule is crazy. When all else fails (if the weather is bad or we couldn't get to the park) we'll do yoga, wrestle, do kids calisthenics and "feats of strength" as I like to playfully call it, inside.

On weekends we always make sure the kids have plenty of time outside and more exercise (granted we are lucky we live in Southern California), we ride bikes, go for long walks, go to the pool or kick around a soccer ball. As the kids get older it will open up a new world of fitness and recreational activities for us to do.

If you live in cold country, explore options like ice skating, bowling, indoor batting cages, kids gymnastic facilities, indoor heated swimming pools or just use your imagination. The key is to stay engaged, keep it fun and keep them moving, moving and moving. It's an awesome way to spend quality time with your family and the added bonus is that it's a great way for you to get more active and raise your personal level of fitness. Remember, lead by example; set a good example for your kids to follow.

I really don't want to go into diet here, that's a whole other important topic I'll have to tackle another time, but keep in mind that it's a key component to good health. Follow common sense, since there is no doubt- you are what you eat. Think about what you are eating and ask yourself is this worth it? Limit fast food (you can't deny your kids a Happy Meal every once in a while, but make it something special, a reward), avoid fried food and over processed food, excessive sugar and stuff like soda. Replace candy and cookies most of the times with fruit, replace ice cream with real low-fat yogurt (not the frozen desert stuff), popcorn is a great snack (one's without the artificial butter and favors), make sure you drink tons of water.

So as you clean up your act, so will the kids. You will all grow old and happy together. Good health is the greatest gift we are given in life. It is a gift we should always be mindful of, always be grateful for and something we should never take for granted.

I hope this will help you make some important lifestyle changes in your lives, if you have any questions feel free to contact me (Markus) at The Fitness

Underground-Los Angeles – http://www..thefitnessunderground.com 

I will be more than happy to help get you moving in the healthier direction.