exercise

Physical exercise is the activity of exerting muscles in various ways to aid in fitness.1 For children, exercise is playing and being physically active.

The American Heart Association recommends that children have at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.2 Children who get adequate exercise each day are more likely to maintain a healthy weight; build stronger muscles, bones, and joints; and decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.3 Other benefits for children include feeling less stressed, being more alert in school, sleeping better at night, and having an overall better perception about themselves.4

Three elements of exercise can be seen while children play: endurance, when playing tag; strength, when hanging from the monkey bars; and flexibility, when bending down to tie their shoes. Aerobic exercise, which increases the heart rate, develops endurance as children run for continuous periods of time playing games or riding their bicycles. Climbing activities and brachiating on overhead equipment especially build upper body strength. Flexibility is improved in activities that involve stretching, such as doing a cartwheel.5

A primary reason for encouraging children to play actively outdoors is to encourage a lifelong healthy habit of physical activity.6 Because children are becoming more sedentary watching television and playing video games, the percentage of overweight children has more than doubled over the past 30 years.7 It has been found that the number of hours per day children are involved in these sedentary activities can be directly linked to childhood obesity.8 The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children 2 years and older be limited to no more than 1-2 hours of quality programming a day on all screen media (television, video games, DVD’s, and computer time outside of school). The National Association for Sport and Physical Education also recommends that school-age children should not be inactive for periods longer than 2 hours at a time.9

Guidelines for the amount of exercise recommended by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education include planned physical activity as well as unstructured free play. Toddlers should have a minimum of 30 minutes of planned play and 60 minutes of free play every day. Preschoolers should have 60 minutes each of planned play and free play daily. School-age children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, which can be broken up into segments of 15 minutes or more, as time allows.10

Since the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law in 2002, many schools have decreased or eliminated recess to concentrate more on in-class teaching time in an effort to boost children’s test scores. An increased amount of homework also adds to increased sedentary activity at home.11 In addition, less time has been devoted to fitness activity in physical education classes, where children receive instruction on health, motion, and sports games.12

In 1956 when it was reported that America’s children were less fit than European children, the President's Council on Youth Fitness was founded to encourage American children to be healthy and active. This government organization is now known as the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN). Its mission is to educate all Americans to adopt a healthy lifestyle with regular physical activity and good nutrition.13 Children of school age receive awards from the President’s Council that offers the President’s Challenge for meeting nutrition and fitness standards. Five components of physical fitness are measured: aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Guidelines are given for the principles of exercise in the program.14

With the rising concern of childhood obesity in America, many other organizations have partnered to tackle the problem. NFL Play 60 is a campaign of the National Football League designed to get children active through in-school, after school, and team-based programs.15

• 1. “Exercise.” Dictionary.com. < http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/physical+exercise?qsrc=2446 > 5 Aug. 2010.
• 2. “Physical Activity and Children.” American Heart Association. < http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Physical-Activity-and-Children_UCM_304053_Artcle.jsp > 5 Aug. 2010.
• 3. “Kids and Exercise.” KidsHealth from Nemours. < http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/fitness/exercise.html > 5 Aug. 2010
• 4. “6 ‘Bests’ About Kids’ Exercise.” NIH MedlinePlus. < http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/winter09/articles/winter09pg6.html > 5 Aug. 2010.
• 5. Op. cit., “Kids and Exercise.”
• 6. Frost, Joe L., Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, Candra D. Thornton, The Developmental Benefits of Playgrounds. (Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International, 2004) p. 130.
• 7. Op. cit., “Kids and Exercise.”
• 8. Op. cit., Frost, Joe L., Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, Candra D. Thornton, p. 38.
• 9. Op. cit., “Kids and Exercise.”
• 10. Op. cit., “Kids and Exercise.”
• 11. . cit., Frost, Joe L., Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, Candra D. Thornton, p. 39.
• 12. Op. cit., Frost, Joe L., Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, Candra D. Thornton, p. 44.
• 13. President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. < http://www.fitness.gov/>
• 14. “Get Fit! A Handbook for Youth Ages 6-17” President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. < http://www.fitness.gov/publications/council/getfitandbeactive_pdf.pdf > 5 Aug. 2010.
• 15. “NFL Play 60: The NFL Movement For An Active Generation” National Football League. < http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80b4a489&template=with-video&confirm=true > 5 Aug. 2010.