There’s a funny thing that happens when we let our bodies become inactive. Our muscles weaken, fat appears out of nowhere and suddenly becoming active again feels incredibly hard to do. We have merely days before school starts up again, but for the rest of this summer, during winter break and any future school breaks it’s imperative that we encourage our kids to be physically active all year long.
Still not convinced you need to stay physically active? Consider this- Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases among children in the United States. (source) The good news is though that regular physical activity can reduce your risk of diabetes. Physically active individuals are also at a reduced risk for colon and breast cancer.
Also check out our post on Encouraging our Kids to be Healthy.
Regular physical activity helps build strong bones and muscles and makes children less likely to incur injuries such as torn ligaments and fractures. It also can help encourage cognitive development as well as maintain better levels of mental and emotional health.
Kids who are physically active get better sleep, have a more positive outlook on life and sometimes these elements can lead to better grades. Staying active will also help kids maintain a healthy weight for their age and height as well as increase their lifespan.
Sadly, many kids are not staying physically active. In fact, only half of children and teens ages 12 to 21 regularly exercise and more than 15% of kids are considered obese. You can help change these statistics! Your child doesn’t have to be physically inactive. It only takes 30 minutes a day. So, where most children spend an average of 3 hours a day watching TV encourage your kids to take just 30 minutes of that free time to get physical. (source)