The Importance of Physical Activity for Children

Children need to be active every day to promote their healthy growth and development. Kids who establish healthy lifestyle patterns at a young age will carry them – and their benefits – forward for the rest of their lives.

Physical activity can help kids cope with stress. It also promotes:

• Healthy growth and development
• Better self-esteem
• Stronger bones, muscles and joints
• Better posture and balance
• A stronger heart
• A healthier weight range
• Social interaction with friends
• Learning new skills while having fun
• Better focus and concentration during school.

Include your children in any decisions about
their activity choices.

Ask if they want to:

• Be a part of a team or do an individual activity
• Enroll in a skill based or recreational class
• Do their activity with a friend or family member.

Parents can provide support and guidance about how to start and how much activity a child needs each day. They need to feel motivated and enjoy their activities. Keeping an activity log can help them chart their progress, while praise and rewards for each small step achieved can help to keep them motivated.

Children should:

• Include a warm up and cool down as part of each activity session.
• Drink water before, and after activities - and have water breaks during their activities.
• Wear sunblock, a hat and sunglasses when outside in warmer weather.
• Use the right size of protective equipment.
• Start at a level that matches their current fitness level. Too much too soon can result in injury. Always play it safe.

Canada ’s Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living for Children tells us that three different types of activities promote healthy growth and development:

1. Endurance

Endurance or aerobic activities – activities that involve continuous movement of large muscle groups – increase heart rate, cause breathing to quicken, and make you work up a sweat. They are important for development of a healthy heart and lungs.

Endurance activities can be lots of fun – and they don’t have to be competitive. Help your children choose the right activities for them. Here are a few examples:

Endurance Guidelines based on recommendations from Canada ’s Physical Activity Guide for Children and Youth:

2. Flexibility

Activities that encourage children to bend, stretch and reach promote flexibility. Having adequate flexibility allows children to participate in daily activities without pain or restriction from their muscles or joints.

Being flexible:

• Promotes good posture
• Reduces muscle stiffness and soreness
• Increases relaxation
• Minimizes risk of injury
• Promotes healthy growth and development.

Flexibility Activities

Active play on a playground, digging in the garden or at the beach and raking leaves – as well as gymnastics, dancing, wall climbing, yoga and skipping – help keep the joints supple. Stretching routines can also be incorporated at the beginning and end of activities such soccer, hockey and swimming.

Flexibility Guidelines for Children:

Frequency
F = Daily

Intensity
I = Move, bend, stretch and reach

Time
T = Throughout the day (at home, at school, at play and along the way)

Type
T = Playground activities, gymnastics, skipping, wall climbing, digging, raking, dancing

3. Strength

Working against a resistance helps children build stronger muscles. Adequate muscular strength allows kids to deal with the demands of daily life without excessive stress on their joints and muscles.

Activities that build strength:

• Promote strong bones and muscles
• Promote good posture
• Improve focus and attention during school
• Improve the ability to lift and maneuver objects and obstacles
• Enhance healthy growth and development.

Strength activities to promote strong bones and muscles include:

• Lifting and carrying things like groceries, garbage and garden waste
• Raking leaves
• Climbing stairs
• Doing sit-ups and push-ups
• Playground activities: monkey bars, climbing ladders, scaling poles
• Gymnastics
• Calisthenics using their own body weight as resistance
• Supervised weight training exercises using tubing, theraband and hand weights.

Strength Guidelines for Children:

Frequency
F = 2-4 days per week (rest 1 day between sessions)

Intensity
I = Move body weight through different actions

Time
T = During play, assisting with household chores or a scheduled class

Type
T = Carrying backpack (less than 15% of body weight), groceries
Calisthenics: sit-ups, push-ups, burpees
Dig in garden/beach, rake leaves
Playground activities: monkey bars, climb ladders
Scheduled activities

Links:

Action Schools! BC

Canadian Association for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance

Jump Rope for Heart

Canada’s Physical Activity Guide for Children

Canada's Physical Activity Guide for Youth

Active Communities

British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association

• SummerActive / WinterActive
  A national community mobilization initiative designed to help Canadians improve their health through active living.
• Everybody Gets to Play
  A program focused on ensuring that economically disadvantaged children and families have access to quality leisure experiences.