National Physical Fitness and Sports Month

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month and it is a great time to think about and actually get your child more physically active and interested in sports, both to help combat childhood obesity and to simply keep your child more fit and healthy.

Although a lot of experts have been pushing free play lately, getting your younger child involved in youth sports, such as soccer, t-ball, flag football, or gymnastics, etc., can help build motor skills, encourage a healthy lifestyle and continued physical activity as they get older, and help your kids make new friends.

Although some parents try to avoid youth sports until their kids are older, like 9 or 10 years old, because they want to avoid what they think is a competitive environment for their younger children, it is important to remember that most youth sports for younger kids are noncompetitive.

The bigger problem is that kids often give sports a try when they are 5, 6, or 7, but then give up because it "isn't fun anymore." At this time, instead of giving up on sports and physical activity, it is more important to figure out exactly why your child doesn't want to play anymore. Is it a problem with team sports in general? If so, than an individual sport, like swimming, tennis, or golf, might be a better fit.

Another common scenario is that a child's skills may not have been keeping up with the other kids, and so they give up playing because they feel like they aren't any good at the sport. If this is the case, it may help to get your child some lessons to make sure he is learning the core skills of the sport, practice with your child more, try another sport, or get your child into a less competitive league.

Unfortunately, many sports begin to get competitive as early as age 9, but even if your child isn't interested in playing competitive level sports, take the time this month to find a sport and league where he or she can get more active. From your local YMCA, to city, school, and church leagues, there is likely some place for a child of just about any skill level to play sports.

• Youth Sports
• Exercise and Fitness
• Childhood Obesity
• Youth Sports Restrictions

_{Photo (c) 2007 Vincent Iannelli, MD licensed to About.com, Inc.}