Loaded Couch Potato: Nutrition and Exercise for Kids

My twelve-year-old grabbed a bag of chips and headed downstairs to the television room. Later, I found the empy bag on the table. Did I really believe my child would hold back on the chips after he sat down in front of the TV? I deluded myself into those thoughts, just because I was in the middle of something and I didn't want to stop...I was lazy.
Thankfully, the chip episode is not a recurring theme in our household. We rarely buy chips, focusing on fruit, cheese, yogurt or low-fat whole grain crackers, instead. My two sons (12 and 9) are pysically active and understand healthy eating.
But exercise is the key component to a child's regimen. It it not asceticism(deprivation) that we want to reach. Nor do we want the Greek ideal of perfection. We are looking more at a balanced approach to exercise.
Starting too quickly with too much exercise at one time burdens a child: causing injury, drudgery and resentment. A child has to find his or her way to a healthy lifestyle, but they do need our help. I remember as a child sitting down in the basement with my karate gee on sobbing that I didn't want to go to practice. My father relented....without asking me why. The reason was that I was singled out the practice before and (I thought made fun of) I was very self-conscious and felt that I was slow. And I was...it took until sixth grade for me to grow into my body. A simple explanation of how classes worked would have helped me overcome my shyness....maybe.
In coming notes, I'll give some examples about how to start slowly with your child and incorporate fun and fitness into a new lifestyle. I will give you a hint to get you started.
We don't have video games in our house;our children don't have computers or TV's in their rooms, and the whole family is asleep by 9:30 each week night.