Physical Activity and Children
Benefits of Physical Activity
What are the benefits of physical activity for children? Some benefits include to control weight, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce the risk for type II diabetes, reduce the risk of some cancers, strengthen bones and muscles, improve mental health and mood, improve ability to do daily activities, and the increase chances of living longer.
Amount of Physical Activity
How much physical activity do children need? Take a brief moment to do a silent reflection on the following questions. Let’s reflect on your community, your children’s schools, and the schools of your patients. If you are a school-based physical therapist, how do children in your community keep active when the weather keeps children indoors? What is happening in your clinics, schools, and community centers? Are there programs that are helping children increase their physical activity level when they need to be indoors? Are their physical activity programs in the classrooms? How are you involved? How are your colleagues involved? How would you get involved or increase your involvement? How would you motivate parents, teachers, and/or school administrators to get involved? How much physical activity do children need? Do you know? When we review this information, how are you going to disseminate this information to implement or to improve the programs that you are already doing?
Exercise Principles for Children and Adolescents I
In 2008, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans was released; sometimes referred to as PAG. It is the first ever publication of national guidelines for physical activity. Sometimes that surprises some of my audience members that it was not that long ago that the first ever publication for those national guidelines came out. The recommendation is that both children and adolescents will achieve 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. Within these 60 minutes, there should be three types of physical activity: aerobic activity, muscle strengthening, and bone strengthening.
