Exercise, Exercise, Repeat

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…