For children’s health, wellbeing and development, physical activity is important now and within the future.
Physical activity has many health benefits for youngsters. It:
- strengthens children’s bones, muscles, hearts, and lungs
- improves children’s coordination, balance, posture, and suppleness
- helps children occupy a healthy weight
- reduces children’s risk of getting heart condition, cancer, and type-2 diabetes later in life.
Physical activity also boosts children’s well-being. For instance, active children are more likely to:
- be confident and want they belong
- be relaxed and sleep well
- concentrate better at college
- get together with others and make friends easily
- share, act and cooperate.
Physical activity is a vital part of play and learning. That is why playpens, much like the ones you can get from Playpen Elite, are an essential tool to get your babies and toddlers to become physically active. And when children do physical activity with you or people, it are often a good way for them to make relationships in your family and community.
Physical activity is additionally just good fun for kids.
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What is physical activity?
Moving your body is physical activity, much like any activity that involves it. Everyday activities, physically active play and organized sports, and exercise are what it includes.
Light physical activity can be going for a stroll, playing an instrument, or standing up to color at an easel.
Getting children gently huffing and puffing is moderate physical activity. It could be:
- walking quickly
- child care, school, or a friend’s house riding
- dancing, skipping, jumping in puddles, or flying kites
- swimming.
Vigorous physical activity gets children huffing and puffing plenty, similarly to sweating. It could be:
- playing running games like ‘keepings off’ or ‘chasey’
- riding a motorcycle fast
- playing organized sports like soccer, basketball, American football, or netball.
Activities that strengthen muscles and bones make muscles work quite normally and put extra force on bones – for example, jumping, running, climbing, and lifting. Moderate and vigorous physical activities often help to make muscles and bones. The energetic play could be a natural way for kids to maneuver and move. For instance, babies rock and kick their feet.
Just how much daily physical activity is required for children?
Australian guidelines say that children aged under 1 year should have plenty of floor play. For babies who aren’t up and about, a half-hour of tummy time day after day is sweet.
Children aged 1 year up to three years should be physically active for a minimum of three hours day by day. This includes energetic play.
Children aged 3 years up to five years should be physically active for a minimum of three hours daily. This includes one hour of energetic play.
Children aged 5 years up to 18 years should do a minimum of one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity plus several hours of sunshine physical activity daily. And a minimum of three days per week could include activities that strengthen muscles and bones.
Young people aged over 18 years should do 2½-5 hours of moderate physical activity or 1¼-2½ hours of vigorous physical activity per week, or adding up to enough activity overall is a mixture of moderate and vigorous physical activity. And a minimum of two days every week, they must do activities that strengthen muscles.
Physical activity and kids with additional needs
Physical activity is very important for all children.
It’s a decent idea to speak to your GP or another professional person if you have any concerns about the quantity and kind of physical activity your child gets or if your child has additional needs, sort of a disability, or medical condition.