Today's children are not getting enough exercise due to the lure of TV, school rules and a lack of safe play areas, but Patricia Weston finds several ways to keep children exercised and entertained.
Traditional children's hobbies such as Irish dancing, horse-riding, hockey and ballet are being surpassed by trendier and more cosmopolitan, expressionist extracurricular activities such as yoga, capoeira, hip-hop dance and Pilates.
As children are becoming less active, new and exciting exercise and dance classes are emerging to keep kids interested and encouraged to stay active and keep fit.
"Today's children are not getting enough physical activity and exercise is so vitally important for children. Our kids no longer run in the park for exercise. They are dropped to school in their parents' cars and are even less active once they're in school, spending less than an hour a week doing PE classes," says Eileen Denham, managing director of The Kid's Gym in Castleknock.
According to dance instructor Jane Shortall, the concept of exercise is a big turn-off for kids, especially the 8-10 year-olds. They need an activity they enjoy without feeling like they are exercising. "Kids need to hit on something like dance at an early age so they'll keep it up in later life and make it part of an active lifestyle," she says.
Shortall has been teaching dance in Ireland for over 10 years and she's noticed a huge drop in kids' activity levels. "It's so sad but there's such a big increase in childhood obesity levels and I have seen how inactive kids have become in recent years with the internet and TV," she says.
Shortall teaches hip-hop dance. "Hip-hop is cool and trendy and the kids can come to the classes in their trendy gear and dance to music they hear on MTV so they don't feel like they're exercising but they are getting a great workout," she says.
Atenea Carnicero teaches children aerobics and gymnastics and she also thinks children are not active enough in school or at home: "I find when I'm teaching kids I notice that their level of balance and co-ordination is very low. Some eight-year-olds can't do a simple tumble and that's because they are not active enough everyday."
The Kid's Gym offers a wide variety of classes for children aged from 18 months up to 12 years of age. "Traditional sports that are taught in schools can be very competitive. Children can suffer a lot of stress these days with both parents working and peer pressure, so in a non-competitive small exercise class they can improve their confidence level, fitness and have fun," says Denham.
Lisa Nolan took her six-year-old son Luke to yoga classes to see if it would improve his asthma and encourage him to do more exercise. "He suffers a lot with asthma and he wasn't able to get much exercise with the weather, his condition and school, and I don't think it's very safe for the kids to play outside anymore, so I decided to take him to The Kid's Gym where they suggested he do yoga," she says. "He absolutely loves it and it's made a huge difference to his asthma because it opened up his chest. It also helped improve his concentration and his balance. Now he wants to do capoeira dance as well," she says. (Capoeira is a Brazilian form of martial arts that combines dance, gymnastics and self-defence.)
Vanessa Coehlo moved to Ireland from Brazil to teach dance. She teaches samba dance, which involves capoeira, to children and adults. "I think the children really enjoy it, especially the 5-10 year-olds. It involves their body and minds and is so much better for them than watching the TV. I also think children this age love discovering new things and they love dancing," she says.
Pilates instructor Fiona O'Dwyer teaches a form of Pilates that is specifically tailored to meet children's needs. "I get the kids moving and connecting with their bodies through Pilates exercises using Swiss balls, exercise bands and foam rollers to add to the fun factor. It's a routine of gentle stretches and conditioning exercises which challenge their mobility, agility, balance and flexibility and helps lay foundations for future habits from an early age," she says.
"I think children's daily life involves less walking and a lot of children aren't learning how to be physically active so we need to educate them on the importance of exercise from an early age. It's as important as sleeping and breathing," O'Dwyer says.
Not only do children need to learn to be more physically active but they also need to learn to relax and wind down, according to yoga kids instructor Marie Wilmer. "Kids are very open to the holistic way of life - healing the entire body - and it's important for them to learn balance, co-ordination and motor skills and to be aware of their bodies and minds as a whole and their breathing."