10 Reasons Why Children Should Exercise

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids ages 8-18 now spend, on average, 7.5 hours in front of a screen for entertainment each day, 4.5 of which are spent watching TV. That figure doesn’t even include the time they spend on the computer at school for educational purposes or at home for homework. With the increase in sedentary time, it is even more important today that children get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. Here are 10 reasons why children should exercise:

Improves cardiovascular endurance and heart health.
Improves respiration and breathing.
Improves muscle strength.
Increases flexibility of the muscles.
Prevents fractures, encourages bone growth and protects against osteoporosis.
Prevents obesity.
Impacts brain power.
Increases self regulation skills.
Associated with improved cognitive skills including executive functioning, attention, memory and verbal comprehension.
Improves self esteem and attitude.

And of course, exercise can be FUN!

References:

CDC. Screen Time vs. Lean Time. Retrieved from the web on 4/27/17 at http://ift.tt/2oPv46H

Rasberry, C. N., Lee, S. M., Robin, L., Laris, B. A., Russell, L. A., Coyle, K. K., & Nihiser, A. J. (2011). The association between school-based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance: a systematic review of the literature. Preventive medicine, 52, S10-S20.

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