I’m not a big reader of junk mail catalogues but I did notice that Kmart is having “The Fitness Sale” this week. On page 7 of their catalogue, along with some ridiculously cheap boxed bikes, I found this:

Yep, for fifty bucks (“that’s half price”!) you can put your ankle-biter on an exercise bike or a treadmill.

What an extraordinary waste of money and a fundamentally stupid idea. If there are two pieces of gym equipment likely to make kids not enjoy exercising it’s the treadmill and the stationary bike.

For much less than $50 you could buy your kid a football or a basketball and send them outside to run around. And you know what? They’d probably be more likely to enjoy their exercise and keep it up into adulthood.

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