Child Workout Video

*I'm going to start this post off with a disclaimer that I am in no way or form a doctor and I do not have children.*

Today, while browsing through Pintrest, I found this video:

The video was accompanied by a comment from a Pinner that said,

"My daughter LOVES Power Girl Fitness. She spends HOURS working out with this Marketing Powerhouse--9 year old!" 

I watched the entire video and it honestly made me a little uncomfortable. It was strange to see a young girl with two of her "friends" bouncing around in booty shorts and bras doing workout moves that seem to me should be reserved for adults.

I thought it was strange that this girl, Jessy, was sprouting off comments about getting "strong and lean" and "being in the best shape of your life." The audience she's talking to are young girls. They haven't lived much of life! They are growing still and their current body is whatever shape and size it needs to be to allow them to continue growing.

I then went onto the website and instantly saw this comment:

"Dear Jessy, I would like to thank you for teaching me how to exercise! I have always eaten healty, ate in moderation, and stayed away from sodas and candy, but I never felt as healthy or as strong as I have since your workouts! I started your workouts when I began exercising, and over time they became easier and easier for me to do, and I knew my muscles were becoming stronger! Now I am applying this to sports such as running, which I now enjoy to do! Before I could barely run down the street, and did you know now I can run for thirty minutes? And this is only after a month and a half! Weight wise, I lost seven pounds and a total of 11 inches off of my body! YAYAYAYAYAAA Hahah so thank you so much!
Ashlea"

I'm sorry, but what young girl needs to a.) know about how much she weighs, and b.) lose 7 pounds and 11 inches?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for kids being healthy, active, and eating right. But what happened to letting them run outside after dinner with the neighborhood kids? What about Little League and other organized sports that allow them to socialize while staying healthy?

When I was young, my mom put us in sports that we enjoyed. We did swim team in the summer, my sister did softball in the fall, and my other sister did dance and gymnastics. Each of these sports allowed us to stay healthy while also engaging with other children and learning how to be a team and work with others. My mom also made dinner for us every night and didn't allow us to eat junk food. We were healthy kids. We were the correct weight that we were supposed to be at that age. I can't honestly remember thinking about being "fat" before the age of 15. I'm sure that if any of our weights were of concern to my parents or doctors, my mom would have nudged us into another sport or physical activity. She wouldn't, however, made us budget 20 minutes of our day to do a workout video. 

It's just so strange to me to that there are young girls out there that are in their houses for "hours" a day working out to a workout video. I find it sad that todays world, T.V., movie stars, whatever you want to blame, has made it so that young girls are already worried about their bodies this much. It worries me that Jessy states that her videos are only "20 minutes long so you don't have an excuse not to work out." I don't think young girls should be "working out." They should be engaging in physical activity to keep themselves healthy, but they don't need to worry about fitting in a workout video into their schedules.

I understand that not all kids are into competitive team sports. Believe me, I can't catch or hit a ball to save my life (breaking my finger three times is tribute to that.) However, there are other ways for kids to get healthy physical activity such as riding their bikes, swimming (not necessarily on a team,) running around with other kids, taking walks with their parents, dancing, the list goes on and on. None of these activities focus on losing weight, toning up, or "being in the best shape of your life." These activities allow kids to maintain a healthy weight while still being kids without the pressure to be skinny or look good.

I hope that if/when I have children, no matter what gender, they will be healthy. I hope that I provide them with food to fuel their bodies and are able to put them in activities that allow their bodies to grow and maintain a healthy weight that is prescribed by their doctors, not society. I know that children tease and pick on others that are different then themselves, but I hope that my children will learn to love their bodies no matter what shape and size it is. I hope that they will never feel so self conscious that they will hold themselves up in the house and do a workout video. I hope they will never worry about the number on the scale or the size of their thighs. I also hope that I can be a role model to them. Obviously, I'm not a size 2 and I never will be. Even when I swam competitively and was at practice for 5 hours a day, the smallest I got was a size 10. I hope to be that size again, but I want to do it the healthy way. I know that I will never be the smallest girl around and I'm sure my children won't either (three of their grandparents are over 6 feet tall.) I hope that one day I will learn to appreciate my body for what it is and I hope I can pass that down to my children.

When I first saw Jessy's video, I felt sad. I was sad that this young girl was already worried about the number on the scale and what size her body is. I understand that children need activity to stay healthy, I just feel like there are other, more kid friendly ways to do so that are not so numbers focused. I believe that children should be active because they're kids. They have a lot of energy to burn off and running outside with the neighborhood kids or doing a sport can help that. I personally believe that videos like this one are contributing to the problem our society has with weight loss/gain and appearance. If my future child wants to do this video because they like the exercises, then that's fine. I just wouldn't want them to do it just to lose weight or try and fit into what society thinks is beautiful.