Experts stress that fun physical activities are best, but there are many ways to get children moving. Let your child walk to school, the store or to a friend?s house.

Encourage them to take a physical education class at school. Sign your child up for a sports team or class. But recognise that some children are uncomfortable competing and would prefer activities that don?t require a lot of skill, such as bicycling, playing tag or flying a kite.

But before you ask your child to join you for a weekend jog in the park, bear in mind that children are not miniature adults. Their cardiovascular system, for instance, is less like that of an endurance athlete than a sprinter?s. Hence their natural form of play is short bursts of energy punctuating more languorous passages. Taking your child jogging, therefore, is as good a way as any of losing what enthusiasm he or she may have for getting fit.

So, instead, go to the park and play games such as tag, stick-in-the-mud, or lock and key. Let them take short breaks to play on the swings and slides or feed the ducks while you complete your jog.