BENEFITS OF EXERCISE EARLY IN LIFE

Will children and adolescents be benefitted by being physically active? YES! ”In growing children all the forces of nature need every advantage to enable them to perfect the physical frame…. If children are well clothed, it will benefit them to exercise freely in the open air, summer or winter.” (MH 382.4) Children getting 60 minutes of moderate exercise daily have been shown to receive the following benefits according to the CDC. It can help children and adolescents improve cardiorespiratory fitness, build strong bones and muscles, control weight, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and reduce the risk of developing health conditions such as: heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and obesity. With the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents being 20% this will certainly cause premature disease and death in adolescence and young adulthood. A March 17, 2005 article in the New York Times states, “For the first time in two centuries, the current generation of children in America may have shorter life expectancy than their parents, according to a new report, which contends that the rapid rise in childhood obesity, if left unchecked, could shorten life spans by as much as five years.” Let's teach children and youth, by precept and example the benefits of being active. So, let’s get moving this week, remembering, we were created to be physically active.

(Source: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm)