Sedentary Life In The Current Society: Barriers to Active Lives

Active Life
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Active Life
Introduction
It is common for most children to live a sedentary life in the current society. With the advent of internet, video games, television and social media, most of the children rarely get out to play. They are constantly seating behind a screen preoccupied with audiovisual content. However there is so much life out there and more importantly there is need to exercise. It is important for children to live an active life especially given the health hazards associated with sedentary lives. This paper looks into how families can be encouraged to live an active life.
Barriers to Active Lives
There are a number of factors to consider as barriers to an active live for the children. One of them is the neighborhood where they grow up. For some of the children, it is safer to stay indoor than to stay outside the house or even move around the neighborhood visiting friends (Kelishadi et al., 2010). This is relative to the level of risks involved such as mugging, abductions, drugs and violent crimes among others. Parents will thus choose to keep their children in the safety of their homes where they can protect them from such incidences (Hesketh, Lakshman & van Sluijs, 2017). It is also common for the parents to be too busy such that they cannot find time to take their children out to play. In the current society where some parents are forced to work close to three jobs in a single day, the relative amount of time that remains for them to go out and play is minimal. When they find time they are resting from the tiring schedules. Technology is also one of the biggest barriers to an active life among most of the children. Having video games, internet, social media and television, most of the children will chose them over stroll in the park. And even when they come to the park, most of them are on their phones and tablets rather than enjoying the serene environment and the company other children.
Strategies for Active Lives
One of the most effective strategies that can be used to ensure that families are living an active lifestyle is making sure that the parents take part in active exercises at least once a week. This can be considered to be an approach where the parents lead by example (Tuso, 2015). Where the children see that their parents are taking part in physical activities that outside their normal routine, they are going to take the active lifestyle choices with much more seriousness than they would if their parents simply insisted on a ...