Table Games: Fitness and Exercise Where The Parent Least Expects

Experts currently recommend that young adults have at least an hour of moderate to vigorous physical exercise each day. However, many children are simply not getting this amount of exercise. Their time is usually spend in sedentary activities: television, computer, telephone, texting, and video games. It’s often this sedentary lifestyle that results in obesity and other physical inactivity health-related issues.

Sadly, once a child becomes overweight, it can make it even more difficult for the parent to encourage the child to participate in a physical activity. The key seems to be to make the exercise and fitness source something that’s fun and engaging, while still burning calories. However, once the child is already overweight, these types of activities can be few and far between.

Many overweight children are very fearful of peer review, and they tend to avoid activities that may lend to ridicule. So, normally fun fitness-related activities (such as swimming, bicycling, and sports) are usually out of the question. Overweight children typically avoid any activity that might require a bathing suit or fitted athletic apparel.

Games may be the last thing the parent would think of for exercise, especially since the point is to avoid video games, but table games are actually a great exercise and fitness source. Most table games, such as pool table, Foosball, shuffleboard, and air-hokey table, can easily provide the child with the recommended hour of exercise, while still being something that the child doesn’t have to don fitted athletic wear to use. Table games are also something that most children, overweight or not, are going to find fun, rewarding, and engaging.

If one stops to consider what is involved in playing a table game, it is easy to see why it’s such a good source of exercise and fitness. For example, a child playing a table game of air-hockey is expending energy and burning calories as he/she moves the hockey puck across the game table their triceps, biceps, forearms, and shoulders; shuffles their feet and legs for positioning; and stretches, reaches out, and tenses using core body muscles.

A parent searching for a source of fitness and calorie expenditure for their child might seriously want to consider purchasing a table game.