(HealthDayNews) -- If your kids spend most of their time sitting on their backsides, you may consider drawing up a fitness contract to get them moving, suggests Chicago's Rush-Presbyterian-St. Lukes Medical Center.

First, come to a mutual understanding where you agree to work at improving your fitness levels. Then follow these steps:

• Define your mutual goals. Let your child come up with his own goals.
• Make two sets of lists: One should detail what each of you plans to do in this program, the other outlines what you expect to gain.
• Narrow the lists to a workable written agreement.
• Set up a monitoring system - a sheet where you can log the date, type of outing and other information.