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THE NURSE’S CORNER by Charlotte O'Connor, GIS School Nurse

Dear Goshen parents,
Fall is such a great time to get out of the house and really appreciate our beautiful region. It’s a wonderful time to spend quality time with our children, as well as exposed them to the great sunlight (Vitamin D) and promote healthy habits. In my reading, I came across this article I’d love to share with you. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have. Happy trails!

Encouraging children to walk

The level of inactivity among children has rocketed in recent years, resulting in rising levels of obesity and the likelihood of serious health problems in adulthood. Making walking a regular part of children's everyday lives is a good way of counteracting this worrying trend, and they could still be reaping the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle for many decades to come. The important thing is that walks need to be planned to suit the child's interests and abilities: don't expect them to enjoy walking or landscapes for their own sake in the way that many adults do.

• Rather than simply suggesting going for a walk, make it seem more of an outing or adventure by building the walk around another activity: for example a local event, a hill to fly a kite, a park or recreation ground, a ruin, railway, waterfall, beach, wildlife park or other visitor attraction or a visit to a friend.
   
• Make it a treat rather than a chore. Take nice things to eat and drink along the way, and maybe have a picnic.
  Don't make it too long or too hard. Do stay patient and be prepared to go at the child's pace, stopping to look at things along the way. With regular walking children will build up their fitness just as an adult does.
   
• Children sometimes seem to have a huge amount of energy one minute and become tired and bad tempered the next. Be prepared to cut the walk short and congratulate them on any special efforts or achievements.
  Make sure they have comfortable clothes and shoes and are protected against tics, sun and rain. Carry extra layers and be prepared for them to get hot or cold in rapid succession. Take a change in case they get wet, and lotion for bites and stings.
   
• Give them a small rucksack or pack to carry -- but remember you may end up carrying it most of the way yourself so don't let them pack too much.
   
• Choose routes with plenty of interest along the way. Children generally like clambering over things such as boulders, tree trunks, small steep hills or dunes; jumping over streams; climbing trees, rocks and play equipment; looking for animals, birds, trees, people, buildings, vehicles, farm, railway and water features; and collecting tree seeds, leaves, shells and small stones. They are generally bored by flat, straight, featureless paths, lengthy stretches of field edges, and wide-open landscapes.
   
• Show them where you are on a map if you have one.
   
• Let them take a friend, or join forces with another family.
   
• Don't force them to walk if they really don't want to -- you might put them off walking for good. And don't be surprised if enthusiastic junior walkers lose all interest in walking as teenagers: the chances are they will take it up again in later life.

If parents express excitement about the prospect of a walk, they are more likely to transmit this feeling to their children. It’s important to treat the walk as an exploration or adventure and to go at the child’s pace, no matter how often they want to stop and look at things; take healthy treats to eat and plenty to drink; and head for some landmark that will appeal to them such as a castle, a playground, or a boating pond.

http://www.ramblers.org.uk