Impact of Physical Inactivity

Nurturing physically active children is important to promote physical and mental-well being of the population

Unlike in the past when children spent their time in the field or playground for leisure, children of current generation has been found to be engrossed in their smart phone, laptops and tablets. Active play has been replaced with sedentary behaviors in children because of attraction to technological gadgets like play station, computer games, smart phones and other gadgets.This shows that children are highly immersed and exposed to electronic media. With the advancement in video games and electronic entertainment, children have become more prone to health related issues like obesity and development challenges. With these issues prevalent in current society, the purpose of this essay is to discuss the importance of physical activity on health and well-being of children and recommend ways to promote physical activity among them.

Physical inactivity among children is a growing concern in developed countries and the extreme adverse impact on health is understood from the case of high physical inactivity among Australian kids. The story on Australian children as published in the news shows that Australian children are among the least active in the world in terms of physical exertion. It showed that about 80% of children between 5 to 17 years do not engage in physical exercise daily and they mostly spend their time indoors in front of the television or laptops. The report stresses on the fact that parents’s attention is not sufficient, national level action is needed to maximize physical activity in all areas. Although the recommended screen time for children is much less, however 80% of children spend more than two hours in watching screen. Hence, technology deprives children from various other domains of physical activity and active playing like kicking ball, running in the playground and walking to school has been completely replaced with sedentary behaviors and high screen time.(Australian children among least active in the world: report, 2017).  Similar incidence of lack of physical inactivity is profound in other countries too. This is reflected from the WHO 2014 data, which shows that 41 million children under the age of 5 were obese. It is also linked to more death worldwide (Obesity and overweight, 2017).  Immediate action is needed to address sedentary lifestyle in children and inaction or avoiding this might lead to increased risk of obesity, development disorder and risk of cardiovascular disease.

The rise in physical activity is also understood from the screen time of .children. The recommended screen time limits for children between 2 to 5 years is 1 hours per day and for children between 5 to 17 years, it is below two hours. However, two-third of Australian children are spending much longer time of electronic devices [Image #1]. The effect of increased screen time is seen not just in the area of physical health, but also social, psychological and cognitive health of children. High screen use has been found to be associated with obesity, increased blood pressure and cardiovascular risk factors. Secondly, it also hinders social connection and leads to poor social relationship. This might also contribute to social isolation in children. Psychological health is also affected due to little physical activity and high screen time. It is linked with depression and low self-esteem in children (Corporation, 2017). On the other hand, developmental challenges are also seen due to little verbal interaction in early childhood.

Importance of Physical Activity to Promote Well-being of Children

Physical inactivity in children has been associated with negative health outcome such as rise in obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. There is a need for children to move and remain physically active not just for physical development but also for intellectual development. Physical activity has also been associated with brain health [Image #2].  Research has shown that physical movement helps in the development of neural pathways of brain and gain control over muscles and sensory abilities. This facilitates cognitive development and optimize intellectual as well as physical development in infants and children (Khan & Hillman, 2014).For this reason, physical activity, fitness, cognitive function and academic achievement is gaining considerable attention at school. School teachers should develop strategies to effectively incorporate physical activity within school and balancing physical activity with class lesions to maximize academic achievement (Donnelly et al., 2016).

The behavior and activities of children determines their physical, mental and psychosocial development. Today’s children have much higher body mass index than children of earlier generation. Due to technological advancement and the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, children fail to engage in 1 hour of physical activity each day. The tendency to engage in attractive home-based entertainment devices and sitting in front of computer or television screen is leading to negative health consequences [Image #3]. Apart from chronic disease such as obesity, diabetes and heart problems, mental health challenges is also seen in adolescents. Majority of them suffer from depression and low self-esteem in life (Asare, 2015). Hence, considering these problems structured physical activities is needed to improve health and well-being in young people.

The benefits of physical activity is that it promote healthy development in children by reducing the risk of heart disease, hypertension, stress and depression and improving flexibility, brain health and muscle strength. Physical activity program also has the potential to improve psychosocial outcome as it improves goal orientation and self-efficacy in children (Kohl & Cook, 2013).  Hence, minimum physical activity is necessary for optimal growth and development of children. Research has showed that aerobic exercise at moderate to vigorous level promotes executive functioning in children. The executive function is related to cognitive process required for goal-direction action and behavior in children. This skill is necessary for academic achievement, emotional self-regulation and facilitating appropriate classroom behavior (Best, 2010). As early childhood is the critical time at which sedentary and physical activity behavior is established in infants, parental level attention is also needed for preschool children. Parent’s should also be involved in checking and monitoring how far their young children remains active throughout the day.

While considering public level action to promote physical activity in young children, making parents aware of the importance of physical activity is important. This is because young infant spend a larger part of their time with parents and certain behavior and attitude is established from home only. In some case, culture of families only encourage over-eating and physical inactivity in children. On the other hand, family structure also determines children’s predisposition towards physical activity. In case of single parent families, children’s health is given a priority, however in joint family structure, parents are engaged in other responsibilities and fail to monitor physical activity levels of their child. Moreover, parental beliefs and values also define children’s engagement in physical activities (Quarmby & Dagkas, 2010).  

Recommendations to Promote Physical Activity

Therefore, the recommended action for parents to maximize physical activity in their young children might include-

Raising awareness about the benefit of physical activity in parents- Health promotion may involve educating them about the National guidelines for physical activity and sedentary behavior in young children [Image #4]. This detail would help parents to understand the minimum amount of physical activity and sedentary for children in their early childhood and adolescent period. They can prioritise the care of children on that basis.

Providing support to children to reinforce healthy behavior- Parents are in a unique position to influence health related behavior of their child and they can reinforce this in their children by means of emotional support [Figure #5]. For instance, they can provide them the resource needed to engage in physical activity such as enrolling them in sports program or taking them to parks on a daily basis. They themselves can also act as role model for their children so that children also develops interest in being physically active. They should also demonstrate healthy behavior infront of their children such as going for regular walks, doing living room calisthenics and remaining active instead of watching TV after work. In such situation, children are most likely to imitate them and lead an active lifestyle (Physical Activity Interventions in Children and Adolescents, 2017).

Role of parents in setting sedentary behavior limits- Parent’s role is also critical in restricting long period of physical inactivity and setting limits to sedentary activities. For example, they can set a rule for minimum hours of TV viewing or playing games to minimize screen times.

On the other hand, school level action and role of teacher is also important to enhance physical activity in children. Apart from home, children spend the maximum amount of time in school and physical activity teacher plays a very important role in ensuring that children remain active as far as possible during physical activity classes and guide children regarding opportunities of physical activities outside schools too. They can maximize physical activity during class by effectively organizing space and equipment for children and planning activities in such a way that maximum children participate in it. Secondly, they can motivate children by word of encouragement so that other children also develop interest. Physical activity home work should also be made fun by means of physical activity such as asking them to practice jump rope tricks and take a walk with their parents (Schoolwide Physical Activity, 2017).

Conclusion:

From this public health essay, it is understood that technology has played a key role in modifying people’s lifestyle and creating risk of highly sedentary lifestyle in children. Considering the rise in obesity in young children, it has become apparent that physical inactivity is leading to serious health consequences for young children. The essay attempts to educated the public about the adverse effect of physical inactivity on children development and well-being. It also suggest the role that parents and teachers can play to modify sedentary habits of children and facility participation in physical activity.

References

Asare, M. (2015). Sedentary Behaviour and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-analysis. Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior, https://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/sedentary-behaviour-and-mental-health-in-children-and-adolescents-ametaanalysis-2375-4494-1000259.php?aid=65312

Australian children among least active in the world: report. (2017). ABC News. Retrieved 5 May 2017, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-21/australian-children-among-least-active-in-the-world/5466544

Best, J. R. (2010). Effects of physical activity on children’s executive function: Contributions of experimental research on aerobic exercise. Developmental Review, 30(4), 331-351, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3147174/

Corporation, A. (2017). Kids’ screen time, is it worth the fight? – Health & Wellbeing. Abc.net.au. Retrieved 4 May 2017, from https://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2015/03/23/4203084.htm

Donnelly, J. E., Hillman, C. H., Castelli, D., Etnier, J. L., Lee, S., Tomporowski, P., … & Szabo-Reed, A. N. (2016). Physical activity, fitness, cognitive function, and academic achievement in children: a systematic review. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 48(6), 1197-1222, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charles_Hillman/publication/303319383_Physical_Activity_Fitness_Cognitive_Function_and_Academic_Achievement_in_Children_A_Systematic_Review/links/57ab260208ae3765c3b718c8.pdf

Khan, N. A., & Hillman, C. H. (2014). The relation of childhood physical activity and aerobic fitness to brain function and cognition: a review. Pediatric exercise science, 26(2), 138-146, https://labs.kch.illinois.edu/Research/Labs/neurocognitive-kinesiology/files/Articles/Khan_2014_ChildPAandAerobicFitnessToCognition_Review.pdf

Kohl III, H. W., & Cook, H. D. (2013). Physical Activity and Physical Education: Relationship to Growth, Development, and Health, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201497/

Obesity and overweight. (2017). World Health Organization. Retrieved 3 May 2017, from https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

Physical Activity Interventions in Children and Adolescents: Parents have role to play in encouraging healthy behaviors. (2017). human-kinetics. Retrieved 4 May 2017, from https://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/parents-have-role-to-play-in-encouraging-healthy-behaviors

Quarmby, T., & Dagkas, S. (2010). Children’s engagement in leisure time physical activity: exploring family structure as a determinant. Leisure Studies, 29(1), 53-66, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02614360903242560?data-src=recsys&journalCode=rlst20

Schoolwide Physical Activity: The Role and Responsibilities of the Physical Education Teacher in the School Physical Activity Program. (2017). human-kinetics. Retrieved 4 May 2017, from https://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/the-role-and-responsibilities-of-the-physical-education-teacher-in-the-school-physical-activity-program