When it comes to healthy living, parents face enormous competitors for their children鈥檚 attention, says University of Victoria exercise specialist Sam Liu.
From sugary drinks to video games and ever-present screens, the challenges and distractions are many.
So it鈥檚 understandable if parents feel a little overwhelmed, says Liu, assistant professor in the UVic School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education. 鈥淗ow do we help them build up the confidence they need so they can provide a healthy environment for their children?鈥� he said.
Liu will team up with exercise-science professors PJ Naylor and Ryan Rhodes for an Ideafest event called Healthy Family Living: Powered By Innovation. The three will lead a series of workshops to showcase innovations to help the whole family achieve a healthy lifestyle.
Topics include reducing the risk of childhood obesity, techniques and technologies that can alter behaviour and game-based apps to achieve better health.
鈥淲e try to bring the entire family in,鈥� said Liu. 鈥淏y focusing on the entire family, it makes it so much easier for the children to carry out a healthy lifestyle.
鈥淎nd we try to make the process fun 鈥� otherwise, they won鈥檛 want to do it.鈥�
The presentation will include tips on narrowing what behaviorists call the intention-behaviour gap. Liu points to New Year鈥檚 resolutions as an example: Lots of people intend to exercise after Dec. 31, but many give up by March.
鈥淪o we鈥檒l look at some of the psychological factors at work,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l talk about how we can build up the habits, the social environments and the skills to close that intention-behaviour gap.鈥�
While the session will touch on childhood obesity, Liu said weight and weight loss are not the focus. 鈥淲e are focusing on behaviours and their lifestyles,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are looking at children鈥檚 mental health well-being, their eating habits, their physical activity and even their sleeping habits.鈥�
Liu is developing digital games based on computer apps to encourage physical activity, which might be welcome news for some parents.
The game works by assigning characters to players, who earn points through real physical activity. Those points can then be used to upgrade their game characters.
Also shared at the session will be results from a survey of 600 Victoria kids of varying ages on their use of cellphones.
Liu said the findings include some surprises.
鈥淣ot all cellphone use is bad, actually,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome of the usage actually improves social connections for kids and helps them with friendship.鈥�
Healthy Family Living: Powered by Innovations is set for Monday, March 2, 7-8:30 p.m. in the McKinnon Building, Room 150.
