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andydp
Member
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Joined: 23 Sep 2003
Posts: 8122
Location: Upstate NY near Albany
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 Posted: 04/18/06 - 15:24 Post subject: Ultimate for lazy parents.
Too lazy or busy to make sure your kids are healthy ? Hire a trainer !! One less parental thing to be bothered with.
"Cat's in the cradle" all over this one...
Personal trainers help parents cut fat
19 April 2006
By JOANNA DAVIS
Forget swimming lessons and team sports on weekends – parents are hiring personal trainers to get their children moving.
With rocketing rates of childhood obesity and driven teenagers involved in competitive sports such as rowing and athletics, parents are increasingly paying for nutrition and fitness guidance for their children.
Christchurch personal trainer manager Ish Cheyne said double-income families could afford to pay the half-hour fee of about $40 and saw the benefits for children struggling with being overweight or with serious sports ambitions.
Cheyne, who oversees 35 personal trainers for Les Mills Christchurch and Ferrymead, said enrolling children in a team sport would probably be a cheaper option for parents, but personal training was considered by many an investment in their child's health and well-being.
Christchurch personal trainer Mike McCauley, of O2 Personal Trainers, said children's lifestyles increasingly meant they were inactive and overweight.
"Kids don't play any sport. They're addicted to PlayStation. When I was a kid, I used to cycle to school. Now kids get driven," he said.
McCauley said children were keen on personal training but he often experienced resistance from parents who would not admit their children were overweight.
His teenage clients needed activity and nutrition training, he said.
One of McCauley's clients, St Martins teenager Lisa Watson, said her weekly personal training sessions were helping her to lose the extra 30kg (66lbs) she carried that caused her health problems.
"It's going to be a long process but I'm confident I'm going to get there. I couldn't do it without Mike," she said.
The 16-year-old kept a food diary, received nutrition advice and went to the gym three times a week to do weight training and work out on the cross-trainer, stationary bike and treadmill.
She recommended personal training to other teenagers who needed help to get motivated.
Knockout personal trainer Dougal McKenzie said children as young as eight could benefit from personal training.
They would gain better co-ordination, motor skills and confidence from their involvement, he said.
"The other benefit is an extra role model in their lives. That can really help," he said.
Cheyne said the school holiday Les Mills group fitness classes were popular.
"We definitely have an awareness that kids need to be exposed to a fitness environment."
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airehead
Oompa Loofah
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Joined: 12 Nov 2002
Posts: 18788
Location: Between here and eternity...
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Posted: 04/18/06 - 15:48 Post subject:
I see the value of driving kids around--seeing the whack jobs that live among us, but please? A trainer? I can see if it's a sport the parent has never done, or if the parents are disabled, but otherwise, get out there and model healthy lifestyles for your kids.
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