Activity Is Natural
They can't wait to crawl and then walk and then run. They want to play catch even when they don't know how, and they want to play sports even when they don't understand the concepts of teamwork and competition. Kids are proof that we come into this world wanting to move and be active. It is the rare child who can — or wants to — sit still.
It's a shame, then, that adults believe that kids need to learn how to sit still. Sitting still is certainly not what our bodies were meant to do. More than that, the whole sit-still way of thinking is part of what creates sedentary adults. Even more dangerous, this mentality is creating a generation of overweight kids.
There is no stronger proof of what the current Western way of life is doing to people than the shape of our children, because kids are naturally active. Kids still love to move and play.
If you watch children play, you'll notice that they do intervals! They run around really fast for a few minutes, then fall over onto the grass and lie there for a few seconds to recover. They race around the pool, then do nothing. They jump and run and shout and skip, then sit and drink some lemonade. Kids don't count calories or worry about their heart rate or wonder if their workout is too much. They just go and go and go until they can't go anymore, and then they stop.
Kids also make a game out of everything. If they walk across the street, they skip or try to hop over the grate. If they see a lamppost, they'll race you to it. Children find movement to be not only fun but also natural. In other words, it is in their nature to move, and when they listen to their bodies, they move as much as they need to.
