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With the alarming increase in childhood obesity, parents and fitness instructors are devising innovative ways to get kids active.

Some parents are even hiring personal trainers for their less than robust pre-schoolers. While well intentioned, they need to remember that children’s fitness needs are different from those of mom and dad.

Jonathan Ross, a personal training and fitness consultant in Washington, D.C., says, “One common mistake that is made in the industry is that programs designed for kids treat them like they were mini-adults when they aren’t, either mentally or physically. A child’s bones, muscles and joints aren’t capable of the intense resistance programs adults usually do.”

Not surprisingly, new fitness equipment on the market is just a smaller version of adult weight training machines with straps and pads that work only one muscle at a time.

Ross notes that kids’ attention spans are shorter and they aren’t naturally drawn to repetitive, consistent effort. He adds, “The bulky equipment gets away from the natural, randomness of the way kids move and are active. Kids only know movement. They just go out and play and don’t think about carving out a separate time in their day just for exercising. It has to be explained how to devote time to physical activity.”

Although Ross feels children can be trained at any age providing the program is physically and mentally appropriate for their development stage, he has compiled a list of dos and don’ts:

• If working with a trainer, a child must be mature enough to follow instructions.

• Use mainly free weights instead of doing heavier resistance training. Squats, lunges, and push-ups work large muscle groups and require multi-joint movement, which is necessary.

• Train for skill initially, strength next and endurance last. It must be fun so add fitness toys such as multicolored balls and balance disks.

• Be careful with aerobic training because children have smaller hearts that have to beat much faster in order to benefit from the exercise. It would require 10 to 20 minutes of sustained activity, difficult for a child to maintain, to profit from cardiovascular training. Instead, play games that involve running and stopping or chasing.

Check out his “Family Fit Plan” at familyfitplan.com. The program is designed for parents and children playing together for fun and fitness.

The grim fact is that the number of overweight children has more than tripled since 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control. More than nine million kids between the ages of 6 and 19 are considered ‘overfat,’ increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The average child watches about three hours of daily TV (American Academy of Pediatrics) and spends five and a half hours on all media combined (Kaiser Family Foundation).

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education has these current daily activity recommendations for children:

• Infant — Daily physical activity should encourage motor development but no specific requirements.

• Toddler — One and a half hours minimum; 30 minutes planned and 60 minutes unstructured physical activity or free play.

• Preschooler — Two hours; 60 minutes planned and 60 minutes free play.

• School age — One hour or more. Break up into bouts of 15 minutes or more.

Remember: A balanced diet and regular physical activity is the key to a healthy lifestyle that will last a lifetime.

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Kay Sager is a certified fitness and aquatic specialist living at Port of the Islands. She is a personal trainer using land and water fitness and teaches swimming. She also has written articles for Physician and Sports Medicine among other publications. Kay can be reached by e-mail: kswimfit@aol.com.