The Importance of Physical Activity for Children
“The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend 60 minutes of physical aerobic activity daily for children ages 6-17 (there are no specifications for those five and under), and 30 minutes daily for adults ages 18-64.” (http://fitness.gov/be-active/physical-activity-guidelines-for-americans/ ) For children, physical education within the schools is only a partial solution.
“Two decades ago, 42 percent of public school children attended daily physical education classes. Today, gym has been reduced to once a week in many city schools. Nationally, only 4 percent of elementary schools, 8 percent of middle schools, and 2 percent of high schools in the U.S. provided daily physical education or its equivalent for all students in all grades, according to a 2006 report from the Centers of Disease Control.” (http://www.alternet.org/story/156152/what_ever_happened_to_gym_class_budget_cuts_and_the_rise_of_childhood_obesity )
With obesity on the rise and physical education in schools on the decline, what is a family to do to ensure that their child(ren) maintain a healthy lifestyle? The answer is to look outside of the school and home for alternatives to physical activities.
The Asian Arts Center offers a one month trial course at no cost or obligation to you. This gives your family the opportunity to come into one of our two locations, meet our qualified instructors, and participate in two classes per week for an entire month. Our Taekwondo classes get children moving. In one 50 minute class, a child will do stretches, run, kick, punch, and more.
The best thing about it is that children are so busy having fun that the physical exercise is rarely noticed. Many children (as well as adults!) have a negative association to the word “exercise”. They hear the word and instantly translate it to “too hard”, “too much work”, or “no fun”. That is not the case at the AAC. There are relays and games that are often played during a class, allowing children to have fun and cheer each other on. Before they know it, class is over and they never even noticed that they received a full workout!
Physical activity is the best solution to weigh management for our children and for ourselves.
Angel Perkins, Enrollment Specialist