After having a poll in my classroom this week about what my students like to do after school, I found a wonderful topic to blog about. How much exercise should children be getting? I was astounded to find 95% of my class, their favorite thing to do after school involved some type of video game or tv show. I asked if any of them enjoyed playing outside. Most said they would rather play their games. Although they did think playing a Wii constitutes as exercise.
According to the American Heart Association children now are less fit than they were a generation ago. They have higher risks for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and being overweight. Children in this generation also watch more TV. On average, they watch about 3 hours of TV each day. If you put that into an elementary child’s day, they attend school and would get home and watch TV until they ate and then would most likely do some homework and go to bed. The American Heart Association also states if children are sedentary at a young age, they are more likely to be sedentary as adults.
How much exercise does a child need? According to David Geller, pediatrician, a grade-schooler needs 30 minutes of exercise every day. This does not mean it needs to be an organized physical activity, but children need the opportunity to run, play, dance, wrestle and be active. At my school, students are required to get 90 minutes of gym a week and 15 minutes of recess a day. I didn’t think this was enough but then remembered they also are receiving 45 minutes a week of health which teaches them about healthy choices and the importance of exercise. David Geller also states it is important for parents to be involved and help their child be active. Take a walk, play tag or go to the park and play during the weekends are a great way to spend time together and get exercise.
What are the specific benefits of children exercising? According to Kids Health, there are several benefits that include, strong bones and muscles, lower diabetes rate, and less likely of becoming overweight. It also states, kids who exercise sleep better and handle issues better. Kids Health also states a child should work on all areas of fitness: endurance, strength and flexibility. They offer several examples and the amounts of times each age group should spend on physical activity a day.
What are people doing to promote exercise? The NFL has teamed up with schools to promote exercise and being active. They have a program called Play 60 which encourages kids to be active for 60 minutes a day. One school in Tampa Bay, FL had a presentation of the importance of exercise from retired football league players. They also had a chance to attend the NFL experience and participate in many activities to get them active such as kick and pass the ball. Now, wouldn’t it be great if every school had this opportunity to help our children become active?
What will happen if the children today do not realize the importance of exercise? How will that change the world? How will it affect the medical world? How will it affect the physical education and recess programs in our schools? I guess only time will tell…
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I totally agree that students need to get more active. I can remember my mom shutting the TV off and telling us to go play outside. Studies show that people who get exercise are able to study better, sleep better, and they feel better about themselves. It is hard to get the point across to kids without skewing their ideas too far in one direction. Students need to realize there is a difference in being skinny, fat, and in good health. Being healthy does not mean being skinny. Being healthy is eating the right kinds of food, and having strong muscles.
ReplyDeleteOur school also has 90 minutes of P.E. a week. However, there seems to be the same student or two, who think P.E. is so much work that every excuse in the book is used to try and get themselves out of having to participate. Laziness is contributed in large by their homelife. Parents need to set boundries and privileges when it comes to their kids staying active. I understand that video games are extremely popular, but they should be used in moderation, especially when obesity is so high among our youth. I think many parents feel that having their kids play outside means having to keep an eye on them...and if they are playing video games at least they know where their child is and that they're safe. But like you mentioned...go to the park with your kids, go for walks, bike rides, anything to stay active and moving as a family.
ReplyDeleteI had the cutest mommy moment today with my daughter and fits perfectly into your blog. As soon as we got home in the afternoon, she asked if we could put our warm clothes on and go for a walk. This is not totally out of the ordinary, we do frequently go for walks, but then she said: 'Cuz I need to get my exercise'. She is 4 years old. How could you turn that down? She also gets on my eliptical rider and does her "exercises". I am not a big fitness guru, but I do try to get out and keep moving. Hopefully that will rub off on my daughter and keep her as far away from the horrible statistics as possible. We do not have any video games, we don't watch a lot of tv (even though it is on all the time, we don't vegitate in front of it) so hopefully we are developing good habits for her lifetime!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Haraseth
Jenna--You make some great points about the amount of exercise time at school! But I think parents should consider this merely a start. If parents were to limit the amount of time that their children could play video games/watch tv/etc, would we introduce a much healthier (and leaner) lifestyle to our children. But this will take effort...I think that it may not happen for a couple of reasons/excuses. First, I think some parents are simply afraid to tell their child(ren) they can't do something that they want to do and run the risk of not being their "buddy" anymore. But I also think some parents simply haven't set their child(ren) as their top priority and expect the school to see to their needs so they don't have to do that in the evening and they can do something else with that time. While it does take a village to raise a child, the school is not the village--only part of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the article!
Hello Jenna,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great topic to ask your students about. I am going to do the same thing on Monday and find out what my students do for fun. Of course, mine are in college so I might not want to hear what they have to say. Just kidding. I mentioned in another blog about my uncle that told the gym teacher to make the kids run more because so many of his daughters friends are overweight, but that did not happen. I understand that many kids come home and see their parents burnt out after work and the parents might sit around so it isn't all the kids fault. They are doing what they see the parent do, but that can change. The NFL is doing some great work with kids to get them active and maybe teachers should bring in local high school students that are in sports to talk to the younger ones to inspire them. Maybe the high school can provide free tickets to a couple of games also. I think excerise is very important and should be a core class all the way through k-12. We are so worried about some test scores that the health of our childern is taking a back seat. Have a good week.
Jenna, great topic! It drives me crazy how much kids watch tv and play video games. I tell my first graders everyday it is nice out to go outside and play and I think they rarely do. Of course we all know that some parents use tv and video games as a babysitter so that just becomes the routine but I also think the safety of our children has changed the amount of exercise children are getting. When I grew up I could be outside by myself or ride bike to my friends house by myself at a pretty young age. Now days it can be very dangerous for a young child to be alone in their own yard or go to their friend's house alone.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great what the NFL is doing but I think more needs to be done. Parents need to be promoting this the most. As a teacher I do my best to promote play/exercise. I have suggested to students to practice spelling words using sidewalk chalk, bring in nature items for show and tell, or go on a word walk (find words on signs) with their family.
Jenna,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great topic choice. My students only get exercise if they have P.E. Most of my students go home to the latest video game and sit for hours. Some are involved in sports but not many. The idea of exercise seems foreign to many of my students. Going outside to play only happens in the summer and that is only if there is a pool or some type of riding device like a four-wheeler. I can remember going outside to play and staying outside until streetlights came on. My parents wanted us to play outside and be kids. Sadly so many of the parents at my school work and are afraid for their children to go outside without them there. Many of my students go home and are alone for hours. Wii is not really exercise but I commend Nintendo for trying to create a more active video game. I agree kids need more exercise and I think schools should get more actively involved.
Blaire
In my school our students participate in Discovery Time (similar to homeroom). This year, we are focusing on wellness. On certain days, they do different activities (i.e. Wed. are fitness time) and during zero hour (before school time), they are also focusing on wellness activites. They do more fitness activites to get the heart rate up (i.e. Dance Revolution). I feel that schools do a good job at having students make better choices at lunch time. We do not allow pop machine in our school, the students can purchase water or juice. These little things have seemed to work. When I am out at local games, I seem more students drinking water than pop.
ReplyDeleteSchool can only do so much in promoting a healthy life style. Parents need to do it also. My children have to be outside playing (after homework is done) instead of watching t.v. when the weather is nice (in the winter if it is below zero they stay in). In the summer, I do not allow them to watch t.v. They have to do other things. I have to admit that I do not alway monitor what they are eating/snacking all the time. At meals, I do make have all the food groups on their plates and they do have to eat them.