By Elena Voropay

Don't you wish that alarm clock would never go off every early morning? Uh, when was the last time you could sleep in?  Life is too busy. The result? Families don't spend as much time together as they used to. What's more, the health of our children, and even our own health, is taking a nose dive. Why not combat the two together by sharing the most precious times in physical activities? This is a great way for your kids to learn the beauty of exercise and remind you how much fun you can have just playing there with kids.

Getting everyone ready for school, packing lunches, rushing to work, all these phone calls and important meetings in the office, then after-work drinks, shopping, make dinner, call parents and neighbors to check up on their concerns, have a talk with a partner about this and that, maybe some TV, and hopefully by midnight you can retire for a much needed shut-eye. Sounds familiar?

Well, maybe your schedule is not as hectic, but we all get the idea - life is busy. Actually, there is no life, just business. Nowadays, commitments take all our available time and we forget the most precious part of existence – the family. Unfortunately, most of today's parents don't share nearly as much time together with our children, so they seem to grow by themselves.

If you take a minute and think about it, more and more kids are becoming unhealthy, unfit, unmotivated, sick and just plain bored. What happened? Where are the fun-loving active gigglers that can't stop playing ball, asking for more crispy fresh apples and cobs of corn from the barbie? It looks more like the TV is always on, empty bags of potato chips and pop cans are everywhere in the house. Somebody is responsible for all of this – and it is not the kids.

Where Are the Healthy Kids

Children and adolescents are becoming increasingly overweight, and that's not what we all wish for future generations. According to statistics, the number of overweight children in Australia has almost doubled from 1985 to 1995 showing that twelve years ago 19-23% of Australian children and adolescents were overweight or obese. (Magarey AM, Daniels LA, Boulton TJ. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents: reassessment of 1985 and 1995 data against new standard international definitions. Med J Aust 2001;174:561-4. )

What's alarming is that obese children and adolescents are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea (interrupted breathing while sleeping), have high cholesterol and blood pressure levels, and become more susceptible to heart disease and cancer. Obese children have a high incidence of orthopedic problems, liver disease, and asthma. In some cases obesity, lack of physical activity and poor diet can lead to problems with learning and memory, very important for the young developing minds. But the real trouble is that overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.

Childhood obesity, just like obesity of adults, is usually caused by kids eating too much and exercising too little. Since children undergo major metabolic and hormonal changes, setting up their bodies on the right path will help in proper growth of healthy tissues so they can live free from unwanted diseases in as adults. Increasing physical activity and choosing nourishing foods to support proper growth of your children can help to keep weight at a healthy range and can also improve the health of other family members. The important part is that the good things you do now, like spend more time with your children and give them attention, will help everyone to connect together and bring happiness and uplift the spirit – just what we all are searching for.