Have you ever wanted to know how many calories you burn while chasing after your children? Shopping? Washing dishes?
There are handy online calculators out there and they won't cost you a thing.
I discovered a few of these tools while researching a story published in The Bee today about the importance of outdoor play for children.
My curiosity got the best of me, so I plugged in some numbers for the types of activities I've been doing the past few days.
To get the most accurate figures, you need to enter your real weight (gulp). According to Dr. Gnanagurudasan Prakasam, a local pediatric endocrinologist, the more someone weighs, the more calories they will burn during a given activity.
I used Health Status' Internet assessments and calculated the totals using scenarios for a 145-pound adult.
Here's what I found, listed by activity, duration of time and calories burned:
The federal government also has some helpful online tools for parents and children.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid Web site has advice for parents on planning healthy family menus, tools for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers and even tips on eating healthy while dining at restaurants.
If you're looking for a fun Web site to get your kids into eating healthy and activity, try the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Body and Mind (BAM!) site. Features include games, tips and even a spot where kids can post comments about things they've done to improve their health.
There are handy online calculators out there and they won't cost you a thing.
I discovered a few of these tools while researching a story published in The Bee today about the importance of outdoor play for children.
My curiosity got the best of me, so I plugged in some numbers for the types of activities I've been doing the past few days.
To get the most accurate figures, you need to enter your real weight (gulp). According to Dr. Gnanagurudasan Prakasam, a local pediatric endocrinologist, the more someone weighs, the more calories they will burn during a given activity.
I used Health Status' Internet assessments and calculated the totals using scenarios for a 145-pound adult.
Here's what I found, listed by activity, duration of time and calories burned:
- Walking/running while playing with kids, 45 minutes: 195 calories
- Running, 60 minutes (10 minute mile): 1,183 calories
- Washing dishes, 5 minutes: 12 calories
- Dancing, 10 minutes (I dance to The Wiggles with my toddlers, which frankly, I count as aerobic dancing): 65 calories
- Cooking, 30 minutes: 87 calories
- Shopping, 60 minutes: 156 calories
The federal government also has some helpful online tools for parents and children.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid Web site has advice for parents on planning healthy family menus, tools for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers and even tips on eating healthy while dining at restaurants.
If you're looking for a fun Web site to get your kids into eating healthy and activity, try the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Body and Mind (BAM!) site. Features include games, tips and even a spot where kids can post comments about things they've done to improve their health.
