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The Benefits of Exercise in Children

As any concerned parent knows there are so many things to teach our children. We automatically think to teach them certain information, how to read, how to cross the street and how to look out for strangers. As well as many other skills necessary to teaching our children how to grow up and be intelligent and productive adults. Yet how many of us make a conscious effort to teach our children about the benefits of exercise?

Even if you have taken the time to talk to your children about the benefits of daily exercise and health have you taken it further and assisted them with planning physical activities that they can participate in and assisting them with completing these activities? If you haven’t already it’s not too late, check out two of the most commonly asked questions parents have about the benefits of exercise.

Why should you teach your children the benefits of exercise?

The biggest benefit to encouraging physical activity in your children is because the likelihood of future illnesses and conditions is greatly reduced. Exercise builds stronger bones and muscles, which will provide protection against falls. It will also protect against health conditions caused by being in poor physical health including Type 2 diabetes. Your child will also notice a range of mental benefits as well. Exercise stimulates circulation and improves brain functioning. Children who exercise on a daily basis benefit from improved sleep, more energy and have a more positive mood.

What kinds of exercise should my child do?

The great thing about exercise is that it is easily customizable to your child’s physical fitness level, interest and wants meaning your child can achieve benefits from exercise by choosing only the activities that interest them. If your child likes sports joining a team is a great way to increase their physical fitness. If your child is looking for a solo sport skateboarding is a great workout and when done with proper supervision and equipment it is completely safe.

There are still lots of options for children who aren’t interested in traditional sports at all. If your child likes to play in the water sign them up for swimming lessons. If your child keeps asking you can they take karate or join a dance class let them! It’s a great way to get the benefits of exercise while still doing activities that they look at as fun.

There are several ways to teach the benefits of exercise to children who show no interest in physical activity. If your child likes to read books and doesn’t have much interest in anything else encourage them to try a physical activity mentioned in one of their favorite books or tell them they have to participate in physical activity for every hour of reading, if they meet this goal at the end of the week they are rewarded with a new book of their choice. If your child is obsessed with video games try using them to your advantage. Dance Dance Revolution is available for most video game consoles and other games that encourage aerobic activity are also available.

How can I show my child the benefits of exercise without boring them?

Try using planned family activities to schedule exercise for the entire family. Not only will you get a workout but by leading by example you show you’re children you are serious about improving their physical fitness. Illustrate the benefits of exercise by other deeds as well. Talk about the importance of being in good physical health in order to participate in the activities that they are interested in. Use the Internet to show them examples of people in poor physical health and how it has negatively impacted their life’s.