Exercise and Calories

The Importance of Getting Kids to Be Active
By Vincent Iannelli, M.D., About.com Guide

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Regular exercise is good for kids. It has been shown to help them build strong self-esteem, sleep better, have more energy, decrease anxiety, and decrease depression. And as most people know, along with a healthy diet, regular exercise is the best way to lose weight and prevent childhood obesity.

Since your child likely isn't going to be getting his exercise by running on a treadmill or using an exercise bike, it can be hard to always tell how many calories he is burning while exercising. Fortunately, it doesn't really matter, as long as your child is getting his 60 minutes or more of moderate physical activity each day and maintaining a healthy diet.

If your child is very active and is still gaining weight, you should likely look to his diet as the cause -- not his level of exercise.

Still, it can be helpful to understand how your child can burn more or fewer calories in different physical activities, such as:

•bicycling at 5 mph burns about 174 calories an hour
•jogging at 6 mph burns about 654 calories an hour
•playing recreational basketball burns about 450 calories an hour
•playing recreational volleyball burns about 274 calories an hour
•playing tennis (singles) burns about 450 calories an hour
•playing vigorous, touch football burns about 498 calories an hour
•roller skating at 9 mph burns about 384 calories an hour
•swimming burns about 288 calories an hour
•walking at 2 mph burns about 198 calories an hour

Keep in mind that these are estimates based on a person weighing 150 pounds. A child weighing less will burn fewer calories, even at the same level of activity. Also realize that a child riding his bike for an hour around the neighborhood with his friends is likely not going to keep up a 5 mph average speed, so he will likely burn even fewer calories. You can, however, use the above list to estimate how many calories your child burns and as a guide to which activities burn more calories.