Physical Activity and Children

Physical Activity and Children

School-aged youth should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity each day to ensure healthy development but experts say less than one-third of young people are sufficiently active to benefit their present and future health and well-being. This decline in physical activity is largely due to increasingly common sedentary ways of life - fewer children walk or cycle to school and excessive time is devoted to watching television, playing computer games, and using computers - often at the expense of time and opportunities for physical activity and sports - added to this is the decrease in physical education and other school-based physical activities.

Patterns of physical activity and healthy lifestyles acquired during childhood and adolescence are more likely to be maintained throughout the life-span and improving physical activity levels in young people is imperative for the future health of all populations. Regular physical activity has been shown to improve the functional status and quality of life of older adults and also improves mental health and cognitive function .

Active lifestyles often provide older persons with regular occasions to make new friendships, maintain social networks, and interact with other people of all ages and to contribute to the management of disorders such as depression Physical activity helps young people to develop healthy musculoskeletal tissues (i.e. bones, muscles and joints), a healthy cardiovascular system (i.e. heart and lungs), coordination and movement control, maintain a healthy body weight.

Physical activity has also been associated with psychological benefits in young people by improving their control over anxiety and depression and providing opportunities for self-expression, building self-confidence, social interaction and integration.