Crossfit kids pushing further
A new breed of parents are building resilience in their children, but are some little bodies being pushed too far?
They are outdoors freerange kids, not in the sense we’re not parenting them but in the sense we give them wide boundaries to explore the world around them. Kersti Taylor
She wore pink, Converse-style shoes.
The little girl placed the pink shoes one in front of the other as she traversed one of New Zealand’s greatest and longest daywalks: the 19km Tongariro Crossing.
A fellow walker spotted the girl while completing the mountain crossing in March.
‘‘How old are you?’’ the woman asked. ‘‘Three-years-old.’’ Extreme parenting is the new buzzword describing families fighting back against helicopter parenting and cotton-wool kids.
Rock-climbing toddlers, surfing and snowboarding kids, gymjunkie tweens and youngsters outpacing adults on halfmarathons. YouTube is abuzz with the craze.
These parents say they are building resilience in their children so they are skilled to deal with challenges in adulthood. The science backs them up, showing active children have more developed frontal lobes, the part of the brain which manages risks and emotions.
But are some parents taking it too far?
The Department of Conservation allows parents to assess their own children’s limits, although a local Tongariro Crossing business was shocked to hear of parents taking toddlers on the trek.
‘‘That really blows my mind because they’re too heavy to carry and not developmentally ready for a mountain,’’ Tongariro Expeditions office worker Mandy Thomas says.
The children of an adventurous Lower Hutt family were aged 5, 7, and 9 when they completed the Tongariro Crossing.
Mum Kersti Taylor says they are more likely to be found tramping or cycling on the weekend than glued to a screen.
‘‘Our philosophy is not setting limits. (The children) have astounded us time and time again with that they have achieved,’’ Taylor says.
‘‘We’re teaching them grit, setting goals, and stamina. We never pushed them, but we never limited them. They’ve got confidence to be out in the world.’’
It wasn’t a matter of one day deciding to trek 19km. The family began building up stamina slowly and once their youngest was comfortable walking long distances, they aimed for the Tongariro Crossing.
The children – carrying their own water, food and dry clothes – began at 7am.
It takes 8 hours for the average person to complete, but just 6 hours and 20 minutes for the Taylor family.
‘‘You talk about quality time – this is endless quality, family time.’’
The outdoors lifestyle comes with bumps and bruises but rather than focusing on the injuries, Taylor says she looks at the resilience they are building.
Nicky Renwick set up the Facebook page ‘Create. Laugh. Play.’ to celebrate family activities including surfing, kayaking, snorkelling and rock climbing.
A Christmas video shows daughter Sienna, 6, delighted as she stands up on a surfboard with her dad Rory Renwick for the first time.
Renwick says Sienna was bouncing with excitement and so proud of herself.
‘‘It’s not just about the girls learning to push themselves and learn they can give anything a go, but just as importantly, it’s about learning about the world around them and developing a respect for the environment.’’
The loss of the adventure spirit in New Zealand also brings health risks – almost one in three New Zealand adults and one in 10 children are obese.
Sedentary lifestyles affect brain development.
AUT University professor of public health Grant Schofield says children are not as adventurous as previous generations and this affects their frontal lobe development.
Part of the problem is that parents find it harder to get kids outside now.
‘‘Two parents are working, you come home tired and feel guilty for not being there so you may buy them treats and let them play Xbox,’’ he says.
He recalls taking his children on tramps and runs, but it wasn’t every weekend. This is because certain repetitive activities can actually do more harm than good for children.
Doctors are seeing children suffering from hip or spinal injuries, prompting warnings to parents.
Axis Sports Medicine specialist Dr Graham Paterson says children and teenagers are not just small adults – they have growing bones.
He comes across children with permanent injuries who have been pushed during their teenage growth spurts.
When it comes to toddlers and younger children, he says socialising and undertaking activities that promote brain development are more important than pushing them to do a massive run or tramp.
‘‘Exercise is fantastic. It’s such a positive thing for health, but there is just this window of vulnerability where kids are growing fast.’’
Crossfit for Kids is one exercise regime often accused of pushing children too for.
Rachel Longson’s son Cooper, 13, started when he was five, but he stopped as a teenager so he could focus on rugby and basketball. Her daughter Phoebe, 11, was also into Crossfit as well as netball, hockey and cricket.
Longson challenged anyone who criticised Crossfit to see it for themselves.
The children are not picking up barbells or weights, but rather use a broomstick to teach the correct technique.
Parents need to use common sense when it comes to children’s limits, she says.
‘‘They’re active, they’re healthy and academically it helps. They’re more switched on in class. It’s about being a supportive parent and not too pushy.’’
For the Taylor family, they hope to take the children on a trek to Nepal. They will always remember such a journey, unlike a game of Minecraft on the iPad.
‘‘They are outdoors free-range kids, not in the sense we’re not parenting them but in the sense we give them wide boundaries to explore the world around them. They make their own fun, their own friends. We’ve chosen to raise them this way.’’