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SECTION 5: Physical Fitness
Physical Fitness is one of the most crucial moments for
our children today, the more physically active we are the healthier and happier
we are. Physical Fitness provides:
- · Creates neural connections in the brain
- · Helps develop gross motor skills
- · Helps children to build endurance, strength and flexibility
- · Helps to teach coordination of movement
- · Develops eye-hand coordination, balance and depth perception
Children
at the early learning ages 1-5 need time for active play, most in particular
pre-school aged children need roughly 90- 120 minutes of physically active
playtime and should not spend more than 60 minutes in sedentary activities
unless they are sleeping (Robertson,C. 2016).
Children at this age are learning Locomotor skills, Manipulative skills
and Social skills (Goodway, J.D. 2006).
Physical activity promotes these skills through movement and involvement
with objects such as running, jumping and throwing balls etcetera. Social skills are developed as children
interact with one another and learn to play (move) safely (Robertson,C. 2016).
Being
Sedentary
There is nothing wrong with enjoying a little bit of down
time, I myself always attempt to add in at least a 30 minute nap somewhere each
day. It is healthy to have some of this
time to recoup and give the mind time to relax.
However when we spend all our time being sedentary (non-active), we lose
the benefits that physical activity provides to us. All this week we have focused on the needs of
nutrition, but not adding activity into those nutrition stages sets our young
children in particular up for risk of obesity. Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) claims “Obesity now
affects 1 in 6 children and adolescents in the United States” (CDC, 2017).
Obesity can lead to many other issues such as hypertension, high blood
pressure, social problems such as bullying.
How We Can Help
We as adults can help foster
physical fitness through encouraging activity in our youth. These activities need not be overly complex, introducing
games such as catch helps improve fine motor skills. One particularly fun activity I used to do at home
was “music painting”, my mother would have us play music we could dance to while
finger painting. Gross motor skills can be
fostered through use of obstacle courses, running, and climbing. My father would often initiate tag in almost any
environment, this encouraged me to not only quickly navigate the most optimum course
but also improved my coordination. “Remember
active play creates active learning.” You
can quote me on that, children are not only engaged during activity they are constantly
learning new skills throughout the process. Not only how to problem solve but also how to play
with others. As we play we engage socially with others and learn
how to grow our self-esteem.
Conclusion
Not only do we help our children grow happier and
healthier through physical fitness we are looking towards their future by helping
them to prevent obesity. We are encouraging
personal, physical and social development all in one process. By simply enacting a daily regimen of play, we
are fostering a whole new generation of healthy, well balanced individuals.
References
Robertson, C. (2016) Safety, Nutrition, & Health
in Early Education. 6th Edition.
Goodway, J.D., & Robinson, L.E. (2006, May).
SKIPing toward an active start: Promoting physical activity in preschoolers. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the
Web. Retrieved from https://klandskillsca.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/nutrition-and-physical-fitness.pdf
Center for Disease
Control and Prevention. (2008) Childhood Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html
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