Are My Children Active Enough?

Children's Physical Exercise

Are My Children Active Enough?

Children in Canada spend an average of 14 hours per week watching TV. Only half of kids between five and 12 years old use active forms of transportation (e.g., walking or cycling) to get to and from school. Added to this total are the hours they spend sitting in school or in front of a computer doing homework or playing video games.

Given these numbers, it’s no wonder that many children are not active enough the meet the 90 minutes of daily physical activity recommended in Canada’s physical activity recommended in Canada’s physical activity guide for children. Yet children need to be physically active for their overall health and achievement. Regular physical activity is important for children’s healthy growth, especially as children’s bones, muscles and cardiovascular system (heart and blood vessels) are still developing.

Physical activity plays an important role in preventing problem behaviours and helps young people to:

  • Achieve greater self-esteem
  • Experience better mental well-being
  • Become more physically skilled
  • Overcome boredom
  • Find positive ways to spend their free time
  • Achieve and maintain a healthy weight

Kids have incredible energy levels and it is always good to have them engaged in meaningful activity. So many people naturally choose sports for their kids and this may be a great way to engage them physically but it’s not always suitable for younger children. Dance lessons Vaughan are an excellent option in this case. Rugcutterz dance studio in Vaughan offers dance lessons for kids of different ages starting from as young as 2 1/2.

Children are capable of dancing a lot earlier than they even get to start to speak. Dance is embedded in our DNA and it

cuts across all cultures and age groups. It is crucial to ascertain its values on early child development.

Dance is healthy.

The advancements in technology have made it possible to achieve so much without really moving around. We have thus become the zombie generation. Dancing is a great way to keep kids physically active and having fun at the same time.

Dancing is more or less like working out and kids who are active dancers will see amazing improvements in their physical health. Dance helps the body become more flexible and improves stamina. You also start to see better balance, better postures and a better cardiovascular condition.

Dance is also used in training by professional athletes in sports like football, basketball, soccer and hockey.

The amount of movement required by dancing engages the whole body and this lifts their fitness levels immensely. No other activity can rival dancing. Kids are quick learners and through dancing classes, they begin to understand and explore different forms of movement.

For overweight kids, dancing is a great way to shed some of the weight and improve their eating habits.