Physical Activity Guidelines For Young Children

To maintain a healthy and physically-fit body, young people should get enough exercise everyday. It is important for them to meet the exercise guidelines that are appropriate for their age level to keep their physical fitness at the optimal level.

For young children aged five years old and above, it is important to get at least an hour of exercise each day to keep their bodies active, healthy, and physically fit. The exercises a young child should perform must be comprised of moderate and vigorous physical activities. At least thrice a week, these exercises must focus on strengthening the muscles and the bones of these young children.

Normally, in the current generation of youth, most young children are spending too much of their time in front of their screens (smartphones, TVs and personal computers), which eats away all of their free time, leaving barely enough time to do any physical activity.

This kind of habit can be pretty damaging to your child’s health, so you should ensure that your child is not allocating most of their precious time doing such things. It is your task, as a parent, to limit the time they spend in front of their screens. 

You should also start to encourage your child to engage in physical activities such as jogging and sports. You should convince them that these kinds of activities are more fun than sitting in front of the computer screen all day, and you should also tell them some of the benefits they can get from doing such things, so they can be more motivated to start doing it.

Kids at a young age basically won’t do an activity he/she doesn’t enjoy, so you need to make sure that you choose the kind of physical activity he/she will truly enjoy so that your child will be able to willingly do these activities. 

For example, if your child shows enthusiasm to be more active when surrounded with friends, then you should consider letting him/her join a team-oriented sport such as basketball, football and hockey. However, if your child enjoys doing splits and performing tumblings, then gymnastics might be the best sports choice for her.

If your child doesn’t want to join any sports, but is still willing to be physically active, then you should encourage him/her to do any kind of moderate to vigorous physical activities.

What is Considered as a Moderate Activity?

Moderate physical activities are those activities that can be done with only a moderate amount of effort. These activities are known to raise your heart rate levels and make you break a sweat. One way to tell if you’re performing a moderate physical activity is when your breathing still enables you to talk, but you’re unable to sing a song properly without losing a breath.

Moderate activities include: walking to the school, playing outside with their friends, riding a bicycle, and doing simple household chores.

What is Considered as a Vigorous Activity?

Vigorous physical activities require a great amount of effort, and usually make the child push their physical capabilities to the limits. You know you are performing a vigorous physical activity if you can barely talk without having to pause to catch a breath. 

Despite requiring more effort, vigorous physical activities are known to provide better health benefits compared to what a moderate activity could bring. Vigorous physical activities are linked to better overall health, stronger and healthier bones, better physical fitness and higher levels of self-esteem.

Some examples of vigorous activities are: dancing, swimming, running and playing intense sports.

Learn more about physical fitness and expand your knowledge regarding your child’s health by reading our educational articles. Let your child learn gymnastics in the most fun and exciting way, enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy! :) Join us in the fun and learn gymnastics for kids :)