Parenting: How do I encourage my child to exercise?
Nov 4, 2026 · 20 min · 6 segments
Child Psychotherapist Joanna Fortune joins Seán Moncrieff to answer your parenting questions.
- Speakers
Joanna FortuneGuest
Seán MoncrieffHost
Nov 4, 2026 · 20 min · 6 segments
Child Psychotherapist Joanna Fortune joins Seán Moncrieff to answer your parenting questions.
Joanna FortuneGuestSeán MoncrieffHost
Our eldest daughter is about to turn 11, but we're becoming increasingly concerned about her lack of physical activity.
She's never been sporty, and despite her efforts to find a sport or activity she might enjoy, she's always refused.
We're a very active, outdoorsy family, so we initially thought that regular walks, cycles and other family activities would be enough.
She now resists almost every form of physical movement we suggest, whether it's walking, cycling, scooting or anything else.
She doesn't get the incidental exercise that many children get from playing outside with friends.
We don't live somewhere that allows for much independent roaming and our friends live a short drive away.
So socialising tends to involve organised visits rather than spontaneously meeting up at doors.
At home, all she wants to do is sit watching television and using her iPad, which we restrict with no social media, reading or doing art.
How do we encourage an almost 11-year-old to become more active without turning exercise into a battle? We don't want to force her into activity she genuinely dislikes, but we're also worried about the long-term consequences of such a sedentary lifestyle.
Now, the question was actually much longer than that, so that's kind of a cut-down version of it.
You know, she's about to turn 11, and we know from all of the research out there that there tends to be a sharp decline in activity levels for girls between 10 and 14 years old.
Puberty, bodies changing, not wanting to wear sports outfits, struggling to be on a team and wear shorts when you have your period or something like that.
But she is in that category age-wise and developmentally where... girls do tend to disengage.
And it's not that they're suddenly not interested in activity or sports, generally speaking.
It's that they don't feel that they can participate for all of those other reasons.
I also think, you know, in the longer letters, well, it's like, is she even doing PE in school? It's easy to find that out by talking to the school, because to my memory and knowledge of primary schools, you know, it's...
Our eldest daughter is about to turn 11, but we're becoming increasingly concerned about her lack of physical activity.
She's never been sporty, and despite her efforts to find a sport or activity she might enjoy, she's always refused.
We're a very active, outdoorsy family, so we initially thought that regular walks, cycles and other family activities would be enough.
She now resists almost every form of physical movement we suggest, whether it's walking, cycling, scooting or anything else.
She doesn't get the incidental exercise that many children get from playing outside with friends.
We don't live somewhere that allows for much independent roaming and our friends live a short drive away.
So socialising tends to involve organised visits rather than spontaneously meeting up at doors.
At home, all she wants to do is sit watching television and using her iPad, which we restrict with no social media, reading or doing art.
How do we encourage an almost 11-year-old to become more active without turning exercise into a battle? We don't want to force her into activity she genuinely dislikes, but we're also worried about the long-term consequences of such a sedentary lifestyle.
Now, the question was actually much longer than that, so that's kind of a cut-down version of it.
You know, she's about to turn 11, and we know from all of the research out there that there tends to be a sharp decline in activity levels for girls between 10 and 14 years old.
Puberty, bodies changing, not wanting to wear sports outfits, struggling to be on a team and wear shorts when you have your period or something like that.
But she is in that category age-wise and developmentally where... girls do tend to disengage.
And it's not that they're suddenly not interested in activity or sports, generally speaking.
It's that they don't feel that they can participate for all of those other reasons.
I also think, you know, in the longer letters, well, it's like, is she even doing PE in school? It's easy to find that out by talking to the school, because to my memory and knowledge of primary schools, you know, it's...
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