NEWSWhy Kids Need at Least One Hour of Physical Activity a Day to Be Smarter, Healthier, and Happier
Oct. 4 2023, Published 4:26 a.m. ET
Research studies covering health and wellness often highlight the importance of diet, physical activity, and sleep for adults with busy lives. However, there is less media educating parents, schools, and children themselves that physical activity should be done each day. The main reason why adults don’t understand the value of exercise is because of the negative connotation that term brought whilst they were kids.
According to a survey of 2,000, 50% of Americans reported they felt anxiety about working out near others. Even those that are regular gym-goers say the environment is uncomfortable and causes them to compare themselves to others. This is a sad fact considering that the majority of Americans see an active lifestyle as an important thing to adopt. However, the CDC has recently stated that only 28% of adults are getting the required physical activity they need. So if adults aren’t getting enough exercise, children may not be either.
In 2016, the World Health Organization reported that 80% of youth worldwide between 11 and 17 weren’t active enough. These numbers seem to only rise as children’s daily technology use increases steadily. If physical activity offers children great benefits, why isn’t it part of their daily routine?
The CDC recommends that children 6 to 17 years old should engage in an hour or more of “moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily”. Many parents assume that their children receive this from PE classes, but there is a heated debate about whether these courses should be mandatory or not. While PE can be stressful and somewhat embarrassing at times for a child, it’s a great way to be more active and build confidence. If the physical activities offered by schools focused less on utilizing workout machines, weights, and other intimidating ways to get fit, then children would have a better idea of what it means to exercise.
By allowing children to exercise and getting their bodies moving, their parents and educators will see wonderful mental and physical benefits. Studies have shown that exercise can improve self confidence, self esteem, behavior, test scores, focus, memory, and cognitive functioning for children with ADHD. Physical activity can also reduce suicidal behaviors by 23% amongst bullied teens. The study of 13,000 high school students revealed that being active for at least four or more days a week contributed to these effects. There are also many studies outlining how academic performance can be directly linked to the frequency of physical activity breaks in school. It has also been proven that children who engage in exercise are less likely to be bullied or become a bully due to improved self esteem.
Since there is so much research to support youth engaging in physical activity, children should be participating in an hour a day to receive these benefits. However, the fitness industry has largely ignored children’s needs and focused on adults looking to lose weight rather than engage in exercise to prevent various health issues. Subsequently, this has caused kid’s fitness to only be discussed when obesity rates are mentioned, making the topic very negative for adults and children too.
Obesity rates indicate that America has a real issue keeping children and adults active, and that takes a toll on society’s well being overall. From 2017 to 2020, 14.7 million children aged 2 to 19 years old were affected by obesity. Those health complications cost the American healthcare system about $173 billion in 2019 and something needs to be done to reduce their occurrence. The next generation of America needs to be active, not only for themselves, but to ensure that our country has productive, happy, healthy and reliable citizens.
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Lee Spieker, an international advocate for youth exercise, discusses the importance of children receiving daily physical activity:
“For the past 50 years, I have been working in the fitness industry. Throughout that entire time, there has never been a focus on keeping children active because most parents don’t see the value in it or it isn’t a priority for themselves and that’s sad to witness because daily physical activity can allow children to exceed more in school, have better mental health, and prevent obesity, heart disease, and other complications. I believe every parent should demand their children have one hour of exercise each day to give them the benefits they’re missing out on because all children need to stay active. For most American families, life is busy and hectic to provide for themselves; however, they do have the right to demand that their kids get exercise within schools, recreation facilities and health clubs, they just have to ask. Doing so will allow them to feel better about themselves, and their children as they contribute to society as they raise the next generation of thought leaders and change makers.”
The problem is clear. Kids are experiencing mental and physical issues at a higher rate since they rarely exercise. This is something that can be changed if schools around in America began to require them to have at least one hour of physical activity, but parents and public figures must educate themselves and others on the importance of exercise. The fitness industry will provide more entertaining, accessible solutions to children if parents demand them, which is why the conversation around kid’s fitness needs to be one that the world participates in. If more people were more proactive about protecting their children’s health, then America and the world would have less struggles with keeping their population active and fulfilled.
