Fit for Life: Why Kids Need Exercise
Kids need exercise for the same reasons that adults do — to stay flexible, burn excess calories, build muscle, keep bones and joints healthy, boost the immune system, and strengthen the heart. Exercise also feels good, triggering the release of brain chemicals called endorphins that reduce stress, ease pain, and produce feelings of euphoria. Young children also need the challenge of exercise to develop their motor skills and hand/eye coordination. And exercise can be fun. Active kids' games, like hopscotch, jump rope, tag, and red light/green light, are important for social as well as physical growth, allowing kids to practice teamwork, sharing, and other relationship skills.
How Much?
Physical activity guidelines issued by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) recommend that elementary-school children get at least thirty to sixty minutes of age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate physical activity from a variety of activities on all, or most, days of the week. Better yet is up to several hours of cumulative physical activity daily. While activity can be spread throughout the day, the NASPE recommends that at least some of that activity be moderate to vigorous in intensity (aerobic exercise) and last for ten to fifteen or more consecutive minutes.
Aerobic exercise, the kind of heart-pumping exercise that increases both your circulation and respiration rate, burns fat. It is possible to overdo it. Your child is exercising at the right intensity if his heart rate is between 70 and 85 percent of maximum (see the section titled “Working Hard or Hardly Working?” on page 140 to find out how to calculate heart rate).
Anaerobic exercise builds muscle tissue rather than burning fat. Weight-lifting and certain floor exercises like pushups or abdominal crunches are considered anaerobic; they focus on exerting muscle groups rather than increasing heart rate. Because muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, even at rest, low-intensity anaerobic exercise is also good for your child. (See Chapter 11 for special considerations and precautions regarding weight-lifting and children.)
Exercise and Childhood Development
Getting your child to exercise is more than a weight-loss tactic. Physical activity, and the mental stimulation and social interaction it provides, is important to the growth of the whole child in these four spheres of development:
Physical. Of course, exercise burns calories and is integral to weight maintenance or loss. It also reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes, raises HDL (or “good”) cholesterol levels, and can lower blood pressure.
Mental. Many sports engage the brains as well as the body. Players must develop a strategy to capitalize on their strengths and find their opponents' weak spots. Team members must figure out the most effective way to work together. There's a mental component to just about any activity you can think of. Even bowling requires some math skills.
Emotional. Participation in exercise and fitness activities can impart a sense of achievement in your child and boost his self-esteem.
Social. Team sports and fitness “games” require skills such as teamwork and cooperation, patience, empathy, and sharing.
