The Importance Of Physical Activity For Children

29 Jul The Importance Of Physical Activity For Children

As a parent, it’s your responsibility to help keep your children as healthy as possible. While you may not have all the answers, our team at Pediatric Associates of Plainview is here to help. Today, we’d like to discuss the role that physical activity plays in your children’s health. We’ll let you know ways on how to foster activity, and the benefits that this will bring.

Why Keep Them Active?

Physical activity plays an important role in the healthy development of your child. As a country, we tend to have a problem with overeating and being overweight, which leads to various health issues. Fortunately, one of the best ways to help your children combat this is to encourage them to be physically active. The benefits that can be found in kids who are more physically active include the following:

• Having stronger bones and muscles.
• Leaner bodies.
• Mitigates the risk of becoming overweight.
• It helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
• Works to improve mental health.

How To Combat A Sedentary Lifestyle 

With the seemingly limitless amounts of screens our children now have access to, it’s very easy for them to become accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle at an early age. While screen time is important for their learning, knowing how to limit this will go a long way in keeping them active. Examples of ways to do this are listed below:

• Set a hard limit on the amount of time your child spends in front of a screen each day.
• Set a schedule for daily physical activity.
• Focus on staying active as a family.
• Make sure any activities you have children do are fun so they’ll be left wanting more each day.

The Amount Of Activity To Strive For

Now that you know the importance of keeping your children active, and some ways you can promote this, you may be wondering how much physical activity your child should partake in. To reap the most benefits, children and teens should perform moderate to vigorous physical activities for at least 60 minutes each day. Additionally, toddlers should receive at least 120 minutes of active playtime daily.  

Contact Us

Helping your child stay active should be a top priority as a parent. Failing to do so can have them falling behind other children in levels of development. To learn more about the importance of physical activity in children, and how you can help with this, contact us today.