Howard Sage wrote in message ...
My son is age 11 and his pediatrician has suggested he use a treadmill
to help with elevated cholesterol and trigylceride levels.

Does any one have experience in buying a treadmill for this age child
and any suggestions as to which treadmills--especially for a small
space--are safe and reliable?

Thank you in advance.

Howard Sage



I hope I do not offend with my opinion here, I am certainly not trying
to.

At 11, exercise is something that should be aqcuired through
acquisition of fun, fresh air and experiences. In my opinion, at this
age and younger (though it is too late to start younger there is not
reason not to start now) you are learning and forming your habits for
a lifetime. It seems to me that exercise that is based on and around
interests are, and developing a habit of interest, is more likely to
last as a habit then a sort of separate exercise routine. Like a
passion, for anything he is passionate about, like football, fencing,
dancing, martial arts, hiking, biking. You get my drift.

It is not that I think getting a tread mill is a bad idea. I
personally think that treadmills are really boring, but then I am not
into tv. And being not into tv seems a good thing to me. So I
recognize that I am bringing my own value judgements in here with
which you may not agree. But if I were in your shoes, I would be
asking myself how to foster a life habit of healthy behaviors which
focuses on exercise but includes other benefits of having healthy
interests, like stress reducing recreating, fresh air breathing... I
would then ask myslef what I could do to encourage this. I would come
up with a couple things...

- Discuss with child what possible interests are worth trying. He may
not KNOW what is out there and may want to try different things to
determine if they are interesting.

- I would take a long hard look at myself and the rest of the family.
Do *I* model behavior which is healthy in this regard? What are my
interests? What of my children's healthy interests would we enjoy
sharing? What do we choose to do as a family in our free time? What
are our eating habits? ... And make changes accordingly.


So, I have no useful tips to offer regarding the aqcuisition of a
treadmill... but this is my opinion on the whole lower cholesterol
thing.

S