By: Jaison Manns
For more than a year many school playgrounds, parks, amusement facilities and even recreation centers have been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has made it a challenge for parents across the country and around the world to keep their children physically active.
According to a study conducted by BMC Public Health, “Short-term changes in physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in reaction to COVID-19 may become permanently entrenched, leading to increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in children.” Childhood obesity poses many risks. Children who are overweight are at high risk for developing:
High cholesterol
Diabetes
High Blood Pressure
Breathing problems like asthma and,
Psychological problems including depression and anxiety
The study called for “Programmatic and policy strategies should be geared towards promoting PA and reducing SB over the next 12 months.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports it is seeing a significant drop in physical activity among kids during the pandemic. To help fix this problem, theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization both recommend parents make sure their children get at least an hour of exercise a day.
Experts suggest the first step is to simply get started. Find an activity that your child loves whether that be gymnastics, dance or martial arts and of course swimming. We may be a little biased but swimming has many positive benefits of your little one taking a dive. Swimming:
Builds self confidence
Improves social development & skills
Normalize sleep patterns
Improves cognitive skills
Builds a healthy metabolism
Helps develop or improve large motor skills
Improves balance and most importantly
Helps PREVENT DROWNING
There is no doubt we are not quite at the finish line with the fight against COVID-19, but as our country slowly reopens and tries to get back to normal with the help of the COVID-19 vaccine it’s more important than ever to get kids moving again. Whatever your choice is to get your little one going, there is no better time to start than now.