Tumbling good for overweight kids?

[Valentina327]

Depending on how heavy might not be a good idea bone and joint wise. Marshal arts? It works on flexibility, keeps you moving, you get some cardio and it's not very hard on the joints to begin with. Plus it's a good confidence booster.

A couple of people have said that it might be bad for her joints. She is heavy for her age, so I suppose there would be a lot more pressure on some places than for a skinny girl. I do like the martial arts idea.

That and landings could be a little hard on the joints, the impact and such. Good luck to you both.

[Anonymous 1]

If she’s involved in a physical activity, make sure she doesn’t go back home and get a snack — that will wipe out the benefit of the exercising! That happens way too often. Water is necessary, but more calories are not.

Don't you need to eat after exercising to get your blood sugar back up? That's what I was always taught.

[Anonymous 1]

Depending on how heavy might not be a good idea bone and joint wise. Marshal arts? It works on flexibility, keeps you moving, you get some cardio and it's not very hard on the joints to begin with. Plus it's a good confidence booster.

A couple of people have said that it might be bad for her joints. She is heavy for her age, so I suppose there would be a lot more pressure on some places than for a skinny girl. I do like the martial arts idea.

That and landings could be a little hard on the joints, the impact and such. Good luck to you both.

That's true. I'd hate it if she got injured doing exercise I forced her into doing!

[Anonymous 1]

I think tennis is a good sport for kids that aren’t naturally athletically inclined.

Do you think? I actually discounted tennis because it seemed to high intensity. Lots of stress on the knees, a big emphasis on moving quickly, needs good stamina - just seemed like all the things dd would struggle with. She gets winded very quickly!

[Anonymous 5]

I had wanted to ask you, a couple responses earlier, if she is within walking distance of school. If she is, yes! Have her start walking to school with her friends. That will serve a couple purposes.

Yes, it could be good as long as its something she is interested in. She may have more trouble than a lighter child, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't do it just because she may have to work harder. But, if she needs to get to a healthier weight, one tumbling class a week won't really be enough. It's important for all people, especially children, to have daily exercise. I'd start daily walks or bike rides with the whole family, so she is getting exercise in between tumbling classes. A healthy diet is also an important component.

I'm going to stop driving her to school at some point, so that'll be an extra ten/fifteen minutes of exercise a day. That plus a class or two of tumbling a week should hopefully make a positive impact.

[Anonymous 5]

Her getting up and going out of the house is more than she is doing now. If she takes an interest in even one of these things, she'll be in a better mood and more apt to try even MORE things! Trust me on this!

Anything that gets her moving is a step in the right direction.

Take her bowling.
Get a ping pong/air hockey table.
Take nightly walks.
Anytime she's in the car with you, park further away than you usually would.
Go shopping.
Go visits local farms.
Visit museums/science centers.
Go to local high school plays.
Take a healthy cooking class.
Take a ceramics class
etc.,

Let her pick something new every week. The point is...Just get her moving. Once she has been exposed to a bunch of different things, maybe she'll find an interest in something.

Thanks for all the suggestions, but I don't really understand some of them. How will a ceramics class help her live more healthily? Or bowling?

[Anonymous 1]

I had wanted to ask you, a couple responses earlier, if she is within walking distance of school. If she is, yes! Have her start walking to school with her friends. That will serve a couple purposes.

Yes, it could be good as long as its something she is interested in. She may have more trouble than a lighter child, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't do it just because she may have to work harder. But, if she needs to get to a healthier weight, one tumbling class a week won't really be enough. It's important for all people, especially children, to have daily exercise. I'd start daily walks or bike rides with the whole family, so she is getting exercise in between tumbling classes. A healthy diet is also an important component.

I'm going to stop driving her to school at some point, so that'll be an extra ten/fifteen minutes of exercise a day. That plus a class or two of tumbling a week should hopefully make a positive impact.

Yeah, there's no real reason to be driving her really. It's not a very nice walk, so I drove her when she was little and then just never really stopped. I've always enjoyed spoiled her a little, but recently it's really coming back to bite me (and her!) in a big way.

[highlandmum]

Gymnastic is one of the worst choices for an overweight ten year old. Gymnastics typically draws petite children who start when they are much younger than ten. By 10 years old these kids already know how to do basic tumbling. She would have to start with the younger kids where she’ll feel very out of place.

Swimming, soccer, basketball, any kids program would be better.

Not true. I took gymnastics and there was always a beginning class with older children going on. It was a rec class they started with the basics, worked on flexibility and balance. They are not expecting them to do a round-off, some moved to more advanced classes others just stayed with the beginner classes. As we got older we sometimes would help out the class.

[Inmybizz]

Yes, it’s fine.

[MrsDavidB]

I've read your replies. I would start right away with walking to school instead of driving her. Walk her there. Get a bicycle for you and her an make it a nightly ride after dinner. My kids love doing this. Find an aquatic center and have her swim. Swimming is fun and she won't feel like it's forced exercise like a tumbling class. Look up your closest park with trails and do the trails with her on the weekend. All of this will keep her active and she will enjoy spending the time with you!