Sonia Lynds Recreation Team Leader Sport Bay of Plenty

On a daily basis we hear from people who struggle to fit activity into their day, resulting in the highly publicised health issues that our country and others are facing. It's really easy to come up with reasons not to exercise, and knowing that exercise is good for us, just doesn't seem to be motivation enough for a lot of people.

What I think is missing these days is a few ‘F' words. What's happened to the Fantastic Family Fun? Do you have a regular family activity that you do together every week?

As parents, we need to stop the dominos from falling on each other in regards to regular activity and nutrition. Here's an example: If your child has a TV or game console in their room, they will watch it when you are asleep (domino one). They'll struggle to wake up in the morning (domino two). They'll skip breakfast because they're running late (domino three). They'll feel really hungry a couple of hours later, probably craving sugary foods and drinks (domino four). Their mood will be up and down due to fluctuating sugar levels (domino five). Finally, any sort of willingness to be active goes out the window as they are tired and grumpy (domino six).

Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, then the challenge is to break these habits to increase activity levels and eat better. Unhealthy habits are much easier to prevent rather than break, so if you have young children, now is the time to set up healthy habits. Research shows that to break a bad habit it needs to be replaced with another a habit – ideally positive! The habits above need to be addressed one by one for a long term positive outcome.

If the family works together it makes these changes easier. Thinking about Fantastic Family Fun creates opportunities for the family to set goals and to focus on the positive outcomes of these goals rather than the negative influences of old habits.

What will you do to create Fantastic Family Fun this week?

Sport Bay of Plenty has useful resources to share on its website www.sportbop.co.nz