Can walking for approx 30minutes be bad for toddlers joints?

[estherderu]

dear Katherine,

Children are still very much "in touch" with their own body.
Children also love to repeat movements or games they have just learnt.
A child that is tired will tell you so.
I have even seen children just stop, sit or lie down and refuse to go any further or " exercise " any longer.............. it is fantastic.
I did learn the hard way... as a mum I did not listen to my son telling me he was too tired to ride his bike any longer.... I told him to keep trying( I am a physio!). Result was he fell off his bike and broke his arm......poor kid.....you can imagine how stupid and guilty I felt.

Listening to them because they still listen to what their body is telling them is the best advice I can give you.

have fun with your daughter

kind regards
Esther de Ru

[constantwanderer]

Your mother-in-law's opinion is one of the silliest things I've ever heard about a child's activity level. Just because young children tend to be active in short bursts (is has to do with the different energy systems in their body having different capacities than an adults) that doesn't mean they are not capable of being active for extended periods of time. And I cannot think of any way that your child's joint health will be adversely affected by walking for 30 minutes. I suspect any colleagues out there specialized in paediatric orthopaedics will agree with me in this matter.

[prh]

Osteoarthritis (to some degree) is an inevitable part of the aging process.

I think that limiting physical activity for kids is more likely to lead to childhood (and possibly, adult) obesity. Obesity is a contributing factor to the development of osteoarthritis, not to mention a variety of other significant health problems.

Most children want and need to be active. Physical activity is essential for motor skill acquisition, bone and joint modelling/development, neurosensory development, to name just a few.

Getting out and active with kids is a wonderful part of parenting - one of my great pleasures is cycling with my 8 year old son. I think that your daughter will limit her own activity when she is tired.

Paul