WHAT?S the right age to start your child on the fitness path? In my book, that?s just like asking when you want a child to start being healthy, happy and fully prepared to deal with life.

You know what they say about the good things you?d want to teach or give your kids: it?s never too early to start. Tune them in to physical fitness from Day 1 ? and that means the first day of life.

One of the paramount factors to consider if you want to get any child on the fitness track ? or any life track for that matter ? is to make the encounter fun. Create an overall environment in your home that will interest your child from birth onwards. Emphasize joyful and efficient movements at home and make your children part of that joy.

Here?s a loose guide to help you track what your child can do at a certain age and level, and what activities you can introduce to help your little one become a fitness buff in-training:

Day 1 to 3 months:

Give babies all the room they need for the movement of their arms and legs. The freer they are to stretch and thrash their limbs about, the more they will come to love it.

Use colorful crib toys to stimulate their senses and lead them to initiate movements (such as grabbing at a toy), thus engaging their motor skills.

Dance and play with them. There are no rules on this; it depends on the parents? intuition and imagination. But generally, keep the play and dance session short and enjoyable.

If you want to develop a new skill in your baby, break it down to smaller moves that will steer him or her to acquire new skills.

Take note of all the salient skills that your children demonstrate because these could be a good indication of what they want to be doing as they grow older. For example, if they consistently show good balance and superb flexibility, then they might be good in gymnastics. If you see early signs of good eye-hand coordination, an important trait of a good soccer player, you may be coddling the future Philippine World Cup star.

3 to 6 months:

Introduce babies to pull-ups, have them grasp your hands as you pull them up from a lying position. Also, start doing leg movements like cycling moves. At this stage, a baby can start using hand-and-eye coordination, so you can play reach with colorful toys.

9 to 12 months:

Once baby can sit with support, usually at nine months, emphasize trunk control. At 12 months, the average child can crawl on his/her hands, stand briefly without support, and can start walking by holding on to furniture. Now you can plan an array of movements that will improve the strength and endurance of the child.

Between ages 1 and 2:

This is a crucial time for developing hand-eye coordination, so give your child plenty of toys like easy jigsaw puzzles, blocks, batting rolled balls and many others The more running, climbing, sliding, hopping and skipping you get to do with your toddler the better ? for him/her and you.

Once your child has started walking, it is a good idea to give him or her a play area. The primary sports-related activity skills at this stage are catching, throwing, striking and kicking.

Whatever you decide to introduce to your children or whatever activities you want to engage in with them, it is important for kids to be a part of the decision-making.

Here are some suggestions on how you can help your child develop good exercise habits:

1. Encourage and help them fit their regular physical activity to their schedule.
2. Incorporate physical activities in their daily tasks, such as walking from the parking lot to the mall or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
3. Keep exercises fun, so that they will continue doing them.
4. Set an example in a healthy lifestyle through exercise and a balanced diet.