Daily physical activity is a great habit to promote in children from a young age. Kids who exercise daily are more likely to maintain this healthy lifestyle for many decades. Physical fitness is a stress reliever, helps kids stay focused, develops both large and small muscle groups, enhances coordination and is just plain fun!
Physical activity should be as routine a part of children's lives as eating and sleeping. Every day, children should be exerting themselves a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes a day. These minutes do not need to be continuous; shorter, intense bursts do provide the health benefits of a sustained longer burst of physical activity.
Engaging in physical activity with your child is an excellent way to connect and establish a healthy habit for the whole family. When the activity is fun and kid-directed, this can be the best exercise of all.
Here are some of the ways regular physical activity improves children's health.
1. Promote cardiovascular health.
Cardiovascular diseases are often thought to be illnesses of adulthood. But fatty deposits have been detected in the arteries of children as young as age 3, and high blood pressure exists in about 3% to 5% of children.
Regular physical activity can help protect against heart disease later in life. Exercise can improve your child's fitness, make them feel better and strengthen their cardiovascular system.
Aerobic activity can make the heart pump more efficiently, which reduces the chance of developing high blood pressure. It can also raise blood levels of HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol, the "good" form of cholesterol that removes excess fats from the bloodstream.
2. Build core muscle strength, large muscle strength & endurance.
As your child's muscles become stronger, they will be able to exercise for longer periods of time, as well as protect themselves from injuries. That's because strong muscles provide better support for the joints.
Kid-friendly yoga and Pilates are both excellent boosts for flexibility and core body strength. Modified sit-ups (knees bent, feet on the ground) can build up abdominal muscles, increase lung capacity and protect against back injuries. For upper body strength, they can do modified pull-ups (keeping the arms flexed while hanging from a horizontal bar) and modified pushups (positioning the knees on the ground while extending the arms at the elbow).
3. Increase flexibility.
For complete physical fitness, children need to be able to twist and bend their bodies through the full range of normal motions without overexerting themselves or causing injury. When children are flexible like this, they are more agile.
In most stretching exercises, your child should stretch to a position where they begin to feel tightness but not pain, then hold steady for 20 to 30 seconds before relaxing. They should not bounce as they stretch, since this can cause injury to the muscles or tendons. Yoga and Pilates both help with flexibility.
4. Maintain healthy weight.
About 15% of children in the prepuberty years have overweight, with a higher percentage in Hispanic and black populations. Oftentimes, few of these kids are physically active.
Time spent in the fresh air outdoors playing not only strengthens muscles and boosts the cardiovascular system but also is time that the child is not sedentary and bored, reaching for a sweet treat to pass the time. Exercise can effectively burn calories and fat. Ask your pediatrician to help you determine whether your child has a healthy percentage of body fat for their age and sex.
5. Reduce stress.
Unmanaged stress can cause muscle tightness, which can contribute to headaches, stomachaches, and other types of discomfort. Your child needs to learn not only to recognize stress in his body but also to diffuse it effectively. Exercise is one of the best ways to control stress. Physical activity releases the body's natural endorphins, which is a natural mood-lifter. A physically active child is less likely to experience stress-related symptoms than their more sedentary peers.
6. Enhance the brain's ability to focus.
Research studies indicate that children who engage in regular daily activity have an improved ability to focus and concentrate in an academic setting. Schools with regular outdoor recess help kids maximize the time spent in academic pursuits. Simply an hour a day spent in group physical activity was shown to enhance cognitive performance and brain function during tasks requiring greater executive control. Physical exercise boosts brain health as well as benefiting the body.
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