When should I start?
Swimming or martial art? Football or tennis? Every sport has special features that need to be considered, especially when it comes to choosing for young children, kindergarten or elementary, a delicate age for their physical and psychological growth. But at present, the problem of sedentary and overweight lives makes us think we have to deal with some kind of sport, no matter what.
Choosing
The age when the child is still in elementary school is generally appropriate for selecting a specific activity. Factors to consider are many, but pediatricians advise that: “The first factor to consider is the comfort: worthless to basketball if the field is hundreds of miles away, better another discipline where you can go easily and continuously “. Moreover, the experts advise that the baby should also be heard about any potential passion: because to continue regular sports activities, you need to have fun. In the end, the parents, after a sport, can propose it to the children, but it would be ideal to try different activities in the first two or three years of the school. This will help the child discover what he likes, revealing his talent.
Teenagers
What about the adults, what’s the relationship with the sport? According to the data, young people between the ages of 11 and 14 mainly practice sports outside the school, where not always this kind of physical activity is the right one. In Europe, 37 % of teenagers do not practice sports, or about two hours a week, while 60 % spend more than ten hours each day. “Today, we have a lot of food available and we do not spend more energy to move, thanks to lifts, cars and other means of transport. This dictates negatively. ” Physical activity, improperly practiced by young people, has little impact on this balance. It is difficult that two hours of movement per week can make the difference. It needs regular physical activity. It’s better to go back and ride or bike all day. ” According to surveys, those who stay away from any kind of physical activity are young people who say they have little time available or who admit that the movement does not like it at all. Most teenagers doing sports practice it because you enjoy it.
Benefits
The list of benefits for teenagers during the adolescence is long: an Australian study conducted in a 2300 people at age 13 has shown that practicing sports improves the psychological and quality of life of young people; a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health has shown that three weeks of regular physical exercise (30 minutes running three times a week) are enough to improve the quality of sleep and school performance of 18-year-olds. While another US study has shown that regular sports activity reduces aggression among adolescents. “Regular exercise improves neuromuscular activity and aerobic capacity, sense of well-being, and capacity to cope with stress. Moreover, social consequences should not be underestimated: young people who do not deal with sports when involved in a physical activity in a group feel themselves in trouble with the risk of feeling distracted. This leads to the creation of a vicious circle (sedentary and weight gain), from which it is difficult to get out./Flashsport24
