There are many reasons why physical fitness is important for young children. Here are a few;
• Build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints
• Control weight, build lean muscle, and reduce fat
• Prevent or delay the development of high blood pressure
• Reduce feelings of depression and anxiety
• May increase children's capacity for learning
• Promote social well-being
Even at the tender age of 3, 4, or 5, your child needs lots of opportunities for physical activity, both for good health and for skill building. At this age, kids are busy developing gross motor skills-learning to use the large muscles in their legs, arms and trunk to run, jump, throw, catch, and kick. They are also working on fine motor skills, although those develop a bit later than gross motor skills. One would still want to provide preschoolers with plenty of time to work all their muscles.
Gross-motor skills in early childhood relate to a child's development of large muscles and the ability to move from place to place or do physical activities that involve the large muscles of the body, arms and legs. Large-muscle development in young children is necessary for crawling, walking, lifting and other types of physical activities.
Fine-motor skills in early childhood relate to a child's development of small muscles and the ability to control use of the hands and feet, and do activities that involve the small muscles of the fingers, toes and other parts of the body. Small-muscle development in young children is necessary for physical activities such as grasping, cutting, throwing and drawing.
Balance and coordination skills in early childhood relate to children's development of a sense of balance and the ability to coordinate movements so they can perform more complex physical activities. The development of balance and coordination skills in early childhood involves movement of the body in activities such as twisting, turning, pulling or maintaining stability. Balance and coordination skills are necessary for catching, clapping, eating, playing and other types of physical activities.
If a child does not engage in physical activity could result in abnormal growth in children. When we consider obesity/overweight, or even when we thing about fitness in children, we often focus on diet alone. Schools should offer programs that teach children how to choose healthy physical activity as well as foods.
One inspirational, thought-provoking quote that captures my attitude is, “childhood obesity poses significant risk to children who are obese has tripled in the past 25 years. Some factors that contribute to obesity include overconsumption of fats and sugars and an increase in sedentary activities. Teachers can help children to make more healthy selections of food and to read their own inner food cues, and at mealtimes they can provide foods that encourage children to follow the food pyramid.” (Robertson, 2010)
Adults and children can develop good fitness habits by doing physical activity everyday at the same time without fail. Teachers can do the head, shoulder, knees, and toes song with the children and have them to act it out as they sing along. Another activity is playing red rover. Playing red rover give the children the physical activity of running.
References
Sanders, S. W. (2002). Active for Life: Developmentally appropriate movement programs for young children. National Association for the Education of Young Children: Washington, DC.
Bayley, N. (1993). Bayley Scales of Infant Development (2nd ed.). New York: Psychological Corp.
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
