it has been proven that moving the body in exercise is very important to a growing child. The title of my next book will be "Come Play With Me" because I want to encourage activity for children. When I was a little girl I suffered from asthma and hay fever terribly (of course I grew up on a lake in the mountainous area of eastern Tennessee which is the allergy capitol of the United States). It was quite beautiful but I could not exercise because of my allergies and was a very sick child. The doctors were afraid that if I did anything too strenuous I would have an allergy attack and end up in the hospital and I did.
Many years later, my children's pediatricians gave me the opposite advice: to get my children into sports and keep them active to build up their lungs and bodies. All three of my children played soccer from a very early age; they rode bikes, walked and played all day after school. They were all very healthy. What we know now is that exercise is good for the whole body. Exercise makes the muscles of the heart stronger and increases the lung capacity. It strengthens and stretches the muscles and it build strong bones. It also helps with reflexes and coordination. Because exercise gets the blood flowing, that means more oxygen to the brain making it work better. My children always made their best grades during soccer season because they were more alert and could concentrate better. Of course soccer practice also tired them out so I didn't hear a lot of whining "I'm bored" either. There was always something to do.
Today we are seeing more obesity because of lack of activity (and poor diet adds to that) in the children of today. While the internet is entertaining and can be informative, it can also be addictive and too much television, too many computer games, too much time on the internet and talking on cell phones if they have them all reduce the healthy time that children could spend in active play. It's easy, when we are all so busy, to leave a child in front of a computer game but it's very detrimental to them. Let's make an effort to find a healthy balance and not forget the moving exercise. We will have healthier and happier children.
Many years later, my children's pediatricians gave me the opposite advice: to get my children into sports and keep them active to build up their lungs and bodies. All three of my children played soccer from a very early age; they rode bikes, walked and played all day after school. They were all very healthy. What we know now is that exercise is good for the whole body. Exercise makes the muscles of the heart stronger and increases the lung capacity. It strengthens and stretches the muscles and it build strong bones. It also helps with reflexes and coordination. Because exercise gets the blood flowing, that means more oxygen to the brain making it work better. My children always made their best grades during soccer season because they were more alert and could concentrate better. Of course soccer practice also tired them out so I didn't hear a lot of whining "I'm bored" either. There was always something to do.
Today we are seeing more obesity because of lack of activity (and poor diet adds to that) in the children of today. While the internet is entertaining and can be informative, it can also be addictive and too much television, too many computer games, too much time on the internet and talking on cell phones if they have them all reduce the healthy time that children could spend in active play. It's easy, when we are all so busy, to leave a child in front of a computer game but it's very detrimental to them. Let's make an effort to find a healthy balance and not forget the moving exercise. We will have healthier and happier children.
RSS Feed