Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

They are marketing treadmills to little kids now:

There are quite a few companies making these treadmills for children:

• First Fitness Kid’s First Treadmill
• Kid’s Gym Treadmill Junior Workout Kit
• Redmon 9201 Fun & Fitness Health Systems for Kids-Treadmill

And there is even an exercise bike in primary colors for your child:

• Kid’s Gym Stationary Bike Junior Workout Kit

I think this could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether the kid wants a treadmill or not. When I was a kid, my grandma insisted that I was fat and forcibly enrolled me in dance, baton, swimming, and tennis classes in an effort to slim me down and make me graceful. Honestly, I kind of liked those classes and they kept me busy for many summers, but I did feel the shame of “needing” a class in the first place. Instead of saying that it was a fun thing to keep me entertained while I was in Billings, she told me that I needed them to lose weight.

If I had asked for the classes, it would have been an entirely different story.

The kind of kids that want these treadmills are the kind of kids that see their parents on the treadmill and want to pretend that they’re grown up like Mom and Dad. In that case, SURE! You can have your treadmill and even an exercise bike in primary colors. Whatever you want!

If you as a parent think that buying one of these treadmills will make your kid lose weight, then you’re lost. Not only will they resent the toy, but they will have a more difficult time staying at a healthy weight as adults. The problem is with the attitude of the parent, not the toy.

Via: Treadmills for Kids? : Complete Running Network