This may be the first generation of children who will not outlive their parents according to a recent report. Despite the almost wholesale disappearance of the four horsemen: famine, war, sickness and plague, today’s children in the 1st world may well be laid low by their own parent’s affluence.

Too much of a good thing and not enough of another: rich food and exercise.

The problem is we’ve left our destinies – and shamefully, those of our own children – up to large corporations who care little about our health and all about their profits.

I need not mention who these corporations are - your children know them as well or better than many more important facets of their lives.

Obesity and its related health disorders are just the symptoms, not the father of this new horsemen called ignorance.

If you are reading this article, consider yourself lucky to be one of the few who really cares enough about your health to do something about it. Most people could care less – they just want to have movie star looks and lots of money.

That they don’t, doesn’t stop them from dreaming and wasting money on many things that they can’t really change that much. So, when they realize they can’t be BranJolie, they forget about the real needs for exercise and eating right and slump back into binging and laziness.

Worse, this attitude immediately extends to their children who need real fitness roles models, not a steroid pumped Arnold or a pre-anorexic runway model. If we as parents are lazy, obese slugs, are we not dooming our children to the same fate?

Children are very quick to ignore what you say and copy what you do – especially if you show approval and give praise. This means it’s our responsibility as parents to be in shape as an example to them.

But how do you get children to exercise? Today, the PSP, MP3 players, portable DVDs, and ubiquitous computer games – even good old TV - can leave your children seated for hours without exercising more than their fingers.

To start, look for activities you can do with your children that are both fun and exercise. Old fashioned games like catch or basketball are excellent ways to get moving. There are a million ways to exercise and it would be a waste of space to list them all – get creative.

The big problem is not that the kids don’t want to; it’s that parents tend to place low priority on these activities. When’s the last time you went out and exercised with your kids? Even once a week is nowhere near enough. It should be three times a week or more.

Work, cleaning the house, dealing with your own problems – these are the things that tend to occupy our time. But your children need you – get out there and get exercising with them. The good news is that they give you an exercise too! And more than just mental exercise.

What are some good exercise routines that kids can participate in? Indeed, it’s hard to find one they cannot participate in. Resistance exercise has proven safe for children as long as weights and numbers of sets are kept low.

But you should be more creative than just taking your child to aerobics class. Look for something challenging, but not too hard or repetitious.

Team related sports are great, but they may keep you on the sidelines. Still, they allow for important social interactions that will give them more confidence later in life.

Dance is great since it helps develop coordination, flexibility and strength. Martial arts do the same and help to instill discipline.

But don’t think that it’s enough to just drop them at the class – you need keep up with them by setting an example – get into shape yourself and always talk positively about the benefits of eating right and exercising.

Don’t pretend somebody else will take this reponsibility for you. Many people think the school system is reponsible for getting their kids into shape, but it hasn’t proved to very effective of late, has it?

Forget the all or nothing syndrome as well. Many people start programs, only to give up for “lack of time”. Missing a workout for yourself is one thing, but activity time with your children should be of a very high priority, indeed. If not, the kids will quickly think it’s just not that important.

Most importantly, don’t quit because you didn’t get in all the activity times you wanted. Make sure you let them know that you care and keep up even if it’s not at the rhythm you’d like. Something is always better than nothing.

Fitenss should be right in there with brushing your teeth and taking a bath –do it as part of the everyday routine and it will quickly become a habit.

Take advantage of this unique bonding opportunity to spend quality time with your children – you will be adding years to their life and yours, and life to your years. It’s a gift that few other things can match.