You may find that television takes up a lot of your time. Many kids spend lots of time watching TV. It’s the same with computer games and the Internet.
All the time you’re doing this you are not active. You would actually burn more energy if you were reading a book!
It’s also tempting to sit and eat snacks while you watch your favorite programmes. Especially when you keep seeing adverts for unhealthy drinks and snacks. The chances are the foods you’ll be snacking on are crisps, biscuits, cakes and fizzy drinks!
How to stop being a telly-tubby
- Get out of the house and go and get some exercise!
- Pick two or three favorite programmes and only watch these.
- Don’t keep the television switched on in the background.
- Find a new hobby you can do at home such as drawing or painting.
- Don’t have a television or computer in your bedroom.
- Pull your sports stuff out of the cupboard.
- Put some music on and have a dance about or try karaoke!
- Ask your parents if you can learn a musical instrument.
Remember, doing any physical activity is better than sitting in front of a television or computer. It will burn more energy and means it’s not so bad when you have the odd ice cream or bag of sweets.
Did you know?
- Almost half of children spend more than three hours a day watching television or playing computer games.
- Children eat more when they are watching television than at any other time. So watching less TV stops kids from putting on weight.
Exercise for teenagers
You might find that you spend a lot of time watching TV – many young people do.
It’s the same with playing computer games and browsing the internet. This might be how you like to spend your leisure time. But while it’s fine to do these things and spend time relaxing once in a while, the problem is you’re not being active.
Why exercise?
If you’re inactive as a young person, you’re more likely to be inactive as an adult. This puts you at risk of developing life-threatening conditions like heart disease and cancer.
Research also shows that regular physical activity can boost our self esteem, mood and sleep quality, making us less prone to stress, depression and, in the longer term, dementia. In short, doing regular exercise is good for our bodies and minds.
How much exercise?
Health experts recommend you do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day – do more than this if you can and want to.
Moderate-intensity activity
Things like:
- bike riding
- briskly walking
- playing frisbee in the park
- martial arts
Anything that means you’re working hard enough to raise your heart rate – so you breathe harder and begin to sweat – but are still able to talk.
High-intensity and resistance exercise
It’s recommended that you do higher intensity and resistance activities three days a week because these will help strengthen your muscles and bones.
Things like:
- gymnastics
- tennis
- skipping
- sit ups and push ups
It’s important to find an activity you enjoy so you don’t find it boring – it means you’ll be more likely to stick at it. Why not join a sports team or exercise with family or friends?
Protect yourself
Whatever exercise you choose, you’ll need to use the right protective equipment – including footwear. This is to reduce your risk of injury.
If you decide to use weights as part of your resistance training, make sure you’re supervised by a trained adult. This is so you use the right equipment and to avoid injuries to your growing muscles and joints.
