In professional journals, home magazines, and newspapers, articles about the growing inactivity epidemic abound. Most of the reports we read deal with overweight and obesity among our children. Although this is an alarming trend that should not be disregarded, we must also turn our attention to those children who may not seem unfit, but who are still suffering from a lack of proper physical activity. As more schools are forced to cut back recess times and physical education classes, averageweight children are suffering too.
By speaking to teachers and parents, and by watching children in physical education classes, I have observed that more and more children are exhibiting extreme motor skill deficiencies. These deficiencies exist in all age groups where specific abilities are missing that should have been obtained earlier in life. Not only are motor skills suffering, but cognitive and social skills seem to be affected as well. These unfit children display the following behaviors:
• Clumsiness with a lack of coordination, not able to successfully maneuver through or over obstacles,
• Decreased flexibility and range of motion,
• Lack of muscle strength or endurance, unable to support their own body weight,
• Slower perception of situations around them, slower reaction times when faced with making a decision,
• Inability to blend in with group games or problem-solving activities,
• Difficulty making contact with others,
• Unfocused attention, and easily distracted,
• Inability to control themselves, which sometimes leads to aggressive behavior.
These children will never grow up to be health club members because they’ve had no prior positive experience with exercise. On the other hand, children who exercise and play on a regular basis, develop body awareness, courage, strength, self-discipline, endurance, and a willingness to try new physical activities.
As NASPE (National Association for Sport & Physical Education) President and CEO, Dolly Lambin states, “Whatever beliefs we teach children in elementary school, middle school and high school, those beliefs will carry over as they age. We can’t continue the model that we have to fix things later. It doesn’t work on your car and it doesn’t work on your body. Physical maintenance is the key.”
The more children do, the more their awareness of physical abilities and overall health will improve. Quality physical education, and exercise at an early age helps to build neural pathways in the brain that relate to analytical thinking and problem solving, which helps to prepare children for school and other academic challenges.
As members of the health industry, we have an obligation to provide quality programs for all children, overweight or otherwise…We can do this by providing the following:
• Offer a variety of age-appropriate, noncompetitive programs and activities.
• Keep games and activities simple and clear-cut. Make sure all children participating are aware of the rules. Kids need, and want, a certain amount of structure. Provide the framework and specific rules through which they will feel confident and secure.
• Allow kids opportunities to explore and to develop skills on their own. They want to find things out for themselves, but they need guidance too… Praise them when they succeed.
• Ask questions. Encourage the child to think of new ways to move their body or to complete an obstacle course. This will help them to begin thinking critically, enabling them to build stronger connections between the brain and the body.
• Partner activities and teambuilding games are a great way to show kids the benefits of cooperation and communication.
• Provide variations on the same theme in order to give children the opportunity to quickly shift gear on an exercise already familiar to them. Variety allows kids to store new movement patterns that expand their movement “vocabulary.”
• Never force or demand anything (with the exceptions of safety procedures), only encourage and lead the way.
There are plenty of fitness options available for kids, but few focus on fostering stronger bodies and brains at the same time. Circuit equipment by itself may help burn calories but it is doing nothing for the development of the child. Programs that do not nurture a feeling of achievement while building stronger bodies, will not encourage children to love movement and physical activity, which will keep them from becoming consumers of fitness products and services in the future. As leaders in the community and the industry we can not allow ourselves to disappoint the next generation…Every child should be a winner!
Siegfried Gerstung is the President of Gerstung Inter-Sport. He can be contacted at 800.922.3575, or by email at sg@gerstung.com.
