Whether you’re hiking, dancing, swimming, participating in team sports, or other physical activities, there are many ways to get outside and be active. These options don’t require much time, and while there are plenty of different ways to keep occupied, exercise is a vital aspect of staying healthy that many people tend to neglect.
In 2018, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) created physical activity guidelines, recommending that United States adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise a week, and kids should get 60 minutes daily. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 24.2% of adults meet these standards.
According to a study from the NIH, kids are a demographic that spends more time outside than any other age group, but this decreases significantly with age. Particularly in the U.S., the National Recreation and Park Association finds that even children have started spending less time outside than previous generations and, instead, more time in front of screens.
This increasingly sedentary lifestyle from a young age has been a partial contributor to detrimentally high levels of childhood obesity in the U.S., especially compared to other nations. The CDC reports that 14.7 million children in the U.S., or around 19.7%, are classified as obese. Obesity leads to other problems like heart disease and high blood pressure, which can cause early death.
While the quality and amount of food contribute to varying levels of obesity, exercise or lack thereof is still a factor. Thus, it is vital to help children create good exercise habits from a young age to combat this. Encouraging them to join a sport, ensuring they participate in physical education throughout elementary and middle school, or simply finding time to take them to the park or outside are all ways to keep children physically active.
These habits will help them later in life because exercise is beneficial to being physically and mentally healthy. A study from the NIH concluded that exercise and spending time outside reduce anxiety, feelings of depression, and negative moods by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.
While exercise is not a solution for more severe mental health conditions, it is still a valuable way to manage mental health and improve general well-being.
Life gets busy as children become adults with more responsibilities, and prioritizing exercise is not always feasible. However, even if it’s just 10-20 minutes of walking or stretching daily, this can be vitally transformative in the long term.
