The new exercise bike is aimed at very young children...

A new idea to help children to stay slim and fit has recently been launched on the market in Northern Ireland. It comes in the form of a special exercise bike that can be connected to the television with special software that allows children to play a number of games while cycling. The whole thing is interactive in that the children can cycle through mountains and drive in exciting car races that are shown on the screen in front of them.

Video and computer games are really enjoyed by children, and parents often feel that it is difficult to get them away from the screen and to get them to do proper exercise. With this new exercise bike it is possible that they may be able to encourage their children to do both at the same time.  The new exercise bike however is aimed at very young children between the ages of three and six and is made by the toy manufacturing company Fisher Price. The Smart Cycle will cost about £100 and Fisher Price is confident that the sales will be good.

At the same time health experts warned that by getting your children to use the Smart Cycle for an hour to everyday will not to substitute for healthy diet and that all children need to eat fruit, vegetables and a good balance of everything else.

At Ukmedix News we felt that the Smart Cycle was not just a good idea because it would get younger children to exercise but it would also instil in them the importance of getting exercise every day. It must be explained to young children that if they eat too much and they do not live an active lifestyle that they will put on weight.

Education is the key to healthy eating according to the hundreds of research projects that we have seen at Ukmedix News and the younger that children learn about healthy eating the better because it will stay with them all of their lives. Children who are very overweight are very likely to stay that way throughout their adult lives and even the ones who do manage to change their eating habits and lose weight in adulthood find it so much more difficult because they have got used to eating too much and not exercising when they were young.