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When most adults think about exercise, they imagine working out in the gym, running on a treadmill, or lifting weights.
But for kids, exercise means playing and being physically active. Kids exercise when they have gym class at school, during recess, at dance class or soccer practice, while riding bikes, or when playing tag.
Everyone can benefit from regular exercise. Active kids will have:
Besides enjoying the health benefits of regular exercise, fit kids sleep better. Exercise improves school performance and makes kids less likely to develop depression. Kids who exercise regularly are also better able to handle physical and emotional challenges — from running to catch a bus to studying for a test.
If you've ever watched kids on a playground, you've seen the 3 elements of fitness in action when they:
Parents should encourage their kids to do a variety of activities so that they can work on all these.
Endurance develops when kids regularly get aerobic activity. During aerobic exercise, large muscles are moving, the heart beats faster, and a person breathes harder. Aerobic activity strengthens the heart and improves the body's ability to deliver oxygen to all its cells.
Aerobic exercise can be fun for both adults and kids. Aerobic activities include:
Improving strength doesn't have to mean lifting weights. Instead, kids can do push-ups, stomach crunches, pull-ups, and other exercises to help tone and strengthen muscles. They also improve their strength when they climb, do a handstand, or wrestle. Muscle strengthening and aerobic exercises like running, jumping, and hopping, also help build strong bones.
Stretching exercises help improve flexibility, allowing muscles and joints to bend and move easily through their full range of motion. Kids get chances every day to stretch when they reach for a toy, practice a split, or do a cartwheel. Dance, yoga, and martial arts, like karate, are examples of flexibility activities.
Kids and teens sit around a lot more than they used to. They spend hours every day in front of screens (TVs, smartphones, computers, tablets, and gaming systems). Too much screen time and not enough physical activity can add up to unwanted weight gain.
One of the best ways to get kids to be more active is to limit the amount of time spent in sedentary activities, especially watching TV and using phones. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that parents:
Parents and caregivers can help ensure that kids are active every day. In its Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends:
Children under age 3 were not included in these guidelines, but exercise guidelines from Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom recommend toddlers be active at least 3 hours throughout the day. This should include light activity, active play, and energetic movement, like hopping, running, and jumping.
Young children should not be inactive for long periods of time — no more than 1 hour unless they're sleeping. And school-age kids should not be inactive for periods longer than 2 hours.
To help keep kids fit and active:
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
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