Physical Activity: One of the emerging trends of most of the fast-paced urban, city lives is that people are becoming less physically active. This is on the decline, especially where kids’ physical activity is concerned. What makes this all the more dangerous is the increasing incidence of obesity among children today. Moreover, this is accompanied by a sedentary lifestyle, where different forms of entertainment have taken over the purely physical fun time for playing. Gone are the days when children would have a specific time each day for being physically active, playing outdoor games, in a group. Today, more and more children want to stay indoors, either watching television or playing video games, or even talking over the phone in their free time. Physical activity for children is as important, if not more, as it is for adults.
Benefits of Physical Activity for Kids
There can be different forms of kids’ physical activity. While an outdoor sport is one of the most immediate sources of physical activity, the latter goes well beyond sports. Physical activity includes the time taken out separately from the daily schedule to spend time in a workout. Most children have an innate sense of activities, and they especially love group activities. The school is therefore a good place to begin and include these fun activities in the daily curriculum. It could be anything. A game of tag, hide and seek, or even athletics. While dancing and playing are some of the usual forms of kids’ physical activity, the latter must also include some exercise sessions in their daily lives. This is beneficial even if it is for mere 20 minutes a day. The benefits of exercising for children are many. Development of bones and muscle strengthening is critical at this stage. It has been estimated that most inactive children also grow into inactive adults. Hence, it is important that children are encouraged to be more physically active. Most of the conditions of heart and lung problems, diabetes, and hypertension have been known to begin at an early age today. All the more reason to exercise to reduce the risks of most chronic illnesses.
While kids’ physical activity and exercise do help them to lose weight, it is very important to incorporate the same for those who are overweight or obese. Exercising not only helps them to develop a healthy and well-informed self-image, but at least an hour of moderate physical activity is also a must for most children. Usually, it has been noticed that children imitate the health habits of their parents. Thus as a parent, you can be a good role model for your child, by especially retaining your healthy habits of exercising and physical activity. Besides a stress on kid’s physical activity, however, there should be an equal focus also on all that he or she consumes, preventing bad habits such as smoking and a sedentary lifestyle, maintaining the correct weight in proportion to height, and periodic check-ups by the pediatrician. It is one of the significant ways of ensuring that your child grows into a healthy, confident, and responsible adult.
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