Couch potato kids are a looming epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found about one-third of U.S. children are overweight or are becoming overweight. They cite a sedentary lifestyle as the principle cause. Fostering healthy, active lifestyles in our children would be a blessing for all.

Let's tackle the biggest culprit first. Whether you call it the "idiot box" or the "boob tube," television watching is almost completely worthless. Even discounting the issue of television content, the sheer time waste ought to cause us to treat it like the plague (read Marie Winn's "The Plug-in Drug). Put that cable premium toward a family health club membership. Make TV watching inconvenient. Put it in the basement in a locked cabinet under a blanket facing the wall unplugged.

I would argue for stimulating activities in the four areas of life below. Remember the four key words and use some creativity if you remember nothing else.

Physical Activities (STRENGTH!): Almost as soon as they start to toddle, parents confine their children in high chairs, play pens and car seats! Let them out of their cages! Throw a ball, run around the yard, walk the dog or build a snowman. As children grow, notice what interests them and choose stimulating activities. Coach their Little League team. Be a soccer mom! Enroll them in a Red Cross swim class. Yes, it requires much of parents. We'll go to bed tired but it will be a good tired. The years go fast and the investment pays off.

Mental Activities: (MIND!): Start reading to Mom while she rests after a day of carrying the baby or later while nursing the baby and putting the baby to bed. Let the kids grab a favorite book for the hundredth time and climb onto our laps. Your local library has a wealth of reading programs. Pizza Hut's Book-It! program (Bootitprogram.com) offers free pizza as an incentive. And visit a museum. Pull out a magnifying glass and study a bug. Watch but don't touch robin's eggs as the hatch and the babies grow and fly away.

Emotional Activities (HEART!): Board games, charades, home-spun plays, practical jokes (nice ones!) and other activities that make you laugh (or sometimes cry) together. Set aside time for individual and family pow-wows. Hug each child every day while you can.

Spiritual Activities (SOUL!): I am a Christian so we are in church almost every Sunday. We each other in with a prayer before bed and say grace at meals. If you are of a different religion, attend your chosen house of worship according to the dictates of your beliefs. Even if you are of no religion spend time reflecting near a mountain, seaside or other picturesque locale. And, no matter our faith, there is always a great spiritual benefit in giving something for nothing. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or community center or school.

Heart! Soul! Mind! And Strength! A great man said those were ways to love. And that is still the activity the world needs most!

Learn more about this author, Donald Moore.
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