The Benefits of Physically Active Kids

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FIGURE 10: Minority Children and Diabetes. Of minority children born after the year 2000, 50% will develop diabetes in their lifetimes.

Source: CDC, 2003

Jumping Develops Bone Mass

Vigorous exercise and appropriate intakes of calcium and vitamin D are critical during the growth spurt that happens in children just before puberty. The skeleton grows fastest and best during this period of rapid growth.³⁰ Low consumption of vitamin D (or its formation by skin exposure to sunlight), even with sufficient calcium availability, will result in poor bone formation.⁷

The dietary elements necessary for bone formation, calcium and vitamin D, are becoming less common in the usual diets of many children. For example, children now consume soft drinks in a 2:1 ratio compared with milk, resulting in children consuming less calcium. In addition, soft drinks deplete calcium from children's bodies.⁷ The net result is that children are not getting sufficient calcium for optimal bone formation.

Further, children who reported consuming more than three servings of fruit and vegetables a day had more bone area and lower urinary calcium loss than those reporting fewer than three servings daily.⁴⁷ Both vigorous weight-bearing exercise and the appropriate dietary "building blocks" for bone formation are necessary for healthy bone growth in children.⁴⁷ When children, especially girls, do not get enough vigorous exercise, their bone mass forms slowly, increasing the risk of osteoporosis later in life.

Jumping is the most effective exercise for increasing bone mass because the force on the bones during jumping is greater than that of normal, day-to-day activity.⁴⁸ Even three short sessions of high-impact exercise per week over the course of two years greatly increases the bone density of pre-pubertal girls.⁴⁹ The increase in bone density in a moderately active group of boys was twice the increase in an inactive group.⁵⁰

FIGURE 11: Profile of Appropriate, Measured Physical Activity in Schools. To be effective, in-school physical activity sessions must contain the following elements:

Daily exercise time of 30 to 45 minutes
Aerobic activity in nature
Activity measured in terms of elevated heart rate
Children wear heart rate monitors
Heart rates elevated to the "heart rate training zone" for 50% of the exercise period (135-190 bpm)

Source: Beth Kirkpatrick & Burton H. Birnbaum, Lessons From the Heart, 1997

Regular Physical Activity Decreases Hypertension

High blood pressure (hypertension) is becoming more common in children, especially in those who are not active and who suffer from obesity and other health conditions. Obese children have about three times more risk for high blood pressure than normal weight children.²⁶

Both regular aerobic exercise (requiring a sustained increase in heart rate) and weight loss have been shown to normalize blood pressure. Aerobic activity has been found to reduce blood pressure more than standard PE.³⁰

Regular Physical Activity Combats Stress/Anxiety/Depression

Physical activity has a beneficial effect on both the physical and mental health of children,⁵¹ according to CDC. Exercise reduces anxiety and tension, combats depression, improves mood, and supports general mental well-being and quality of life.^13,7 Young women engaged in a vigorous exercise program had less physical and emotional stress than those not exercising,³⁰ according to a study of adolescent girls during a high-stress period.

Standards for Physical Education Have Evolved

No standardized or generally agreed-upon methodology exists in the United States to test the effectiveness of grade school PE programs. As a result, a wide variety of claims as to the relative value of PE programs with divergent methodologies have emerged around the country.

The original standard of PE effectiveness was set in the mid-1950's when the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports established guidelines for awarding certificates. Based on long-established military models, these standards emphasized muscular strength, physical force, and short-distance running.

Later, team sports became the model for PE; however, the data shows that kids are active less than 25% of the time in these classes and that classes generally benefit only the athletically gifted. This tends to discourage most kids and translates into a distaste for physical activity later in life.⁵²

New PE models place increased emphasis on lifestyle activities such as rock wall climbing, weight training, and cardiovascular machines. Considerable debate remains over the relative physical value to children of these differing teaching practices.

The physical education programs of the past placed too much focus on inappropriate competition among children and not on individual health and lifestyle development. These old-style programs lack the ability to elevate heart rates, help all children regardless of physical abilities, or improve biometric markers for obesity and ECD.

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