Impact of Physical Activity on Kids’ Health

How about we tweak the old proverb to ‘All study and no play makes Jack a dull boy’’.  Yes, we agree to this statement, and we admit it even more with the latest trend where we see children busy with their electronic gadgets, iPads, TV, video games, etc. In the olden days, we’ve seen our parents and grandparents walking miles together to fetch groceries, go to work, walk together, doing things themselves rather than depending on a help. Nowadays, due to all amenities and facilities, we find it a big task to walk. Due to the exposure to TVs and tabs, kids no longer like to play outdoors. They enjoy long rides with their parents rather than walking. When we as parents don’t follow up to practicing a regular exercise pattern, how can we expect that from our children? With diseases such as Type 2 diabetes being prevalent in young kids we can clearly see the drastic change in our lifestyle and its influence on our kids. Obesity in kids can be very disturbing as it leads to all kinds of unwanted health risks.

There is a way to prevent this; we can train our kids right from the beginning. We can teach them the importance of physical activity to lead a quality life going forward.

5 benefits of doing any form of exercise

1. Exercise for kids can be daily activities such as running, playing football or any sport, bike riding and even pushups and pull ups that are taught at school which help to strengthen the muscles.
2. Simple aerobic exercises such as jumping, skipping, playing hopscotch and swimming can fasten breathing. With regulated breathing, the heart functions better by carrying oxygen to other parts of the body and gets healthier.
3. Routine physical activities can make you flexible. Especially for kids, flexibility can be gained pretty fast through activities such as ballet dancing, martial arts, yoga and simple stretching of arms and legs and touching toes. If all these activities are practiced at a young age, flexibility can be achieved much sooner and with age, they won’t experience pain or tightness in muscles.
4. Dancing activities such as Zumba help regulate better coordination in kids. They have a control over their movements and coordinate well while moving around.
5. Physical activities or exercises release endorphin; hormones which make you feel energetic, good, and calm, helps contain anger and builds a positive attitude towards life. This aids to sleep better and feel relaxed. With exercise, the muscles and bones become stronger and, for obese kids, there is considerable decline in weight thus reducing health risks.

Having learnt about the probable benefits of physical activity on kids’ health we need to list as to what kinds of exercises we can count upon such that they help in healthy growth and development of their body.

Any light or energetic activities will do, such as:

• Walking
• Running
• Gymnastics
• Aerobics
• Swimming
• Climbing
• Dancing
• Skipping
• Cycling
• Any active play: Such as hide and seek, hopscotch, baseball, basketball, hockey and many more.

The above list of benefits and kinds of physical activities is just a starter. Nevertheless, we can fundamentally teach our kids that each one’s body from a very young age is designed in such a way that in the absence of physical activity, we’ll be lazy, the body clogs and that we become unhealthy and unhappy.