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Use Video Games To Help Your Kids Lose Weight

7th January, 2011 - Posted by health news - No Comments

Playing video games is a favorite hobby of many children. A common fear is that kids will have too sedentary a lifestyle when they play the games too much. Although with the new systems like the xbox 360 kinect there is some movement that is involved with video gaming it is not enough on its own to give kids the amount of physical activity they nee and when we think our kids were spending too much time in front of the television there are some simple solutions to keeping them active while letting them enjoy their favorite video games.
The first and most important part is to set some rules. The rules need to be put into place by the parents and they need to be monitored. It is good to let the child have some say in the rules that are set. The adults must be the ones who make the decision in the end. Write down all the rules on a piece of paper and post it on spot where everyone can see it.
Set a maximum amount of time per day that children are allowed to play video games. Remind your children that they have more important responsibilities that come before they get to play. Remind children that they have to do their homework and keep their grades up to play the games. There will be plenty of time to play when there is no school the next day. Remind your children that you have rules in place about their game play. Find some way to monitor how much time your child is playing and stick to the limits. When you want to limit the amount of TV a child watches make the time limits for game include watching TV as well.
Find some ways for a child to get extra playing time such as when they do something that gets them exercising. Kids will do things that give them extra time and they will start to enjoy those things as much as playing the games. It is also possible to have a child do physical chores that earn them game time.
It is important for the parent to hold the kids accountable for the things they say they are doing. Do not accept things that are not done correctly. Sloppy work should not be recorded. Find a way to make the rewards real, such a certificate. It is a great way to make them understand that hard work will get them some type of reward. Make sure that when a child plays the games those times are recorded too.
Work out a list of chores and activities that your children can follow when they need to gain more time. Do not make everything worth the same amount of time, but rather base it on how difficult the task is. Do not let your children build up more time than they should be using. Too much video gaming is not always healthy, no matter what they do to earn it.
With the recent xbox 360 kinect release date some kids are more excited than ever about the future of video gaming, but unfortunately, young children do not always make the right choices about what to do so parents need to give their children guidance along the way. Any time a child can be taught how to make good decisions, it will help them later in life.
It is okay and recommended for the adults to play the games with their children. Family activities can be used to help kids gain some gain time. Include physical activities for the entire family to help bring the family closer together. It is okay to challenge your kids to a video game. You might find that you enjoy them as well. It could be something that gets the whole family more active.