Organised physical education at school and at home is necessary for healthy children, especially those who are overweight.
Our children seem to be getting fatter. Have you seen how they throng around fast food outlets eating chips and fizzy drinks in clothes that strain uncomfortably at the seams? It’s hard to imagine these children being able to run to catch their bus, let alone play a game of soccer or hockey.
The Healthy Active Kids South Africa Report Card, which allocates “grades” to how our nation’s children, schools and legislators are faring. Specifically in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and tobacco use (extrapolated from evidence drawn from a range of published data and surveys), indicating that nearly 40 per cent of learners are involved in little or no physical activity.
overweight and inactive children
The negative health consequences of overweight children are dire: generally, they include disease, disability and early death; specifically, they include cardiovascular disease like heart attacks and strokes, diabetes, cancer, early death due to accident or injury, and infectious diseases.
It is estimated that 60 per cent of overweight children between the ages of 5 and 10 “already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, including elevated blood cholesterol, blood pressure or increased insulin levels. These are the factors that lead to hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis,” according to the US Center for Disease Control. The numbers seem to be increasing rapidly.
“The combination of eating too much food or the wrong types of food and lack of physical activity are the leading causes of childhood obesity,” says a registered dietician.
“Making physical activity a priority and encouraging good habits in children from an early age is important. It can help them to develop the skills they need to continue being active throughout their lives. Children should be encouraged to get involved in sports and participate in physical education at school. Generally they should be more active during break times, weekends and holidays. Children who are physically inactive are at an increased risk of becoming overweight or obese. They are also more prone to developing asthma, flat feet and joint pains due to their excess weight,” the dietician explains.
physical education in schools
According to the Department of Basic Education’s CAPS curriculum, physical education forms part of the Life Orientation subject. Learners are expected to participate in physical education once a week for varying times, ranging from one to two hours, grade-dependent.
While this goal is laudable, Prof Estelle Victoria Lambert, director of UCT Research Centre for Health Through Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Sport at the University of Cape Town maintains that schools are struggling to deliver physical education in the curriculum. They often use Life Orientation classes for staff meetings and allow learners to have a free period. She adds that teachers often do not feel adequately trained to deliver physical education as part of the Life Orientation programme and many teachers themselves are guilty of being overweight and inactive.
Read our article on why preschoolers should do gymnastics and ways to get your child to be active.
parental advocacy
Prof Lambert is a great proponent of what she calls “parental advocacy”, a tactful and diplomatic form of activism. “Be aware of what is on offer at school, including the physical education ‘culture of the school’ and even what is sold in the tuck shops. If your child’s school is not able to deliver, become a volunteer coach or tuck shop parent, join a committee to help make healthy changes, or create awareness through the school governing body,” she advises.
“Parents need to ‘guide, model and message’ to their children in a healthy, balanced way,” says Lambert. “This means being a good role model, with the knowledge that your children learn from you both explicitly and implicitly. It means offering your children a range of healthy food and being aware of how your children are targeted by companies, so that you can address or counteract this.”
In terms of activity levels, she says that it’s imperative that parents offer their children fun, active and interactive lifestyle choices. Because let’s face it: even if your child’s school does comply with the compulsory physical education component every week, that hour or so actually amounts to the recommended daily activity levels. The reality is that you need to make up the shortfall.
consequences of inactivity
- Tiredness
- Concentration difficulties
- Learning difficulties
- Aggressiveness
- Low stress thresholds
- Sleeping problems
- Tension headaches
- Increased blood fats, which can lead to heart disease
- Diabetes
- Weight problems
- Prone to depression
get your children moving
- Limit screen time (cell phone, television, games and computers) to one to two hours a day.
- Get skipping ropes for the whole family and skip during television commercial breaks.
- Look for opportunities to walk more.
- Be a good and active role model for your children.
- Keep physical chores in-house. Your family should take turns to clean the car, weed the garden and rake the leaves.
- Don’t be critical.
- Remember that everyone is different and not everyone was born to be an athlete.
- For younger children, keep a physical activity “star chart” and reward them for achieving realistic goals.
