In certain parts of the world, children have a high chance of being overweight or obese due to their eating habits, but more commonly because of lack of exercise. This is especially true in the American South. Obesity is traditionally defined as being at the 95th percentile or higher, with regards to BMI (Alizadeh, Khosravi, & Borna, 2013). Children between the ages of five and seventeen are supposed to be physically active for sixty minutes a day to remain healthy, and a BMC Health Report found that roughly 80% of teenagers between thirteen and fifteen do not meet this guideline. The report also studied the likelihood that young children in Australia would continue to play club sports after their withdrawal from modified sports programs, and found that the numbers were low. Parents either did not have the time or the money to help support their children’s youth activities. The study also found that children who participated for three years between the ages of six and nine had higher coordination levels than children who did not. Another study in rural Alabama allowed students of an elementary school to design their own obstacle course as a goal of an instructor led fitness program (Hastie, Sluder, Buchanan, & Wadsworth, 2009). This program had the clear goal of raising fitness awareness for the children, but their study indicates that the children in the control group (not participating in that particular class) had higher aerobic energy. Therefore, while students doing workouts and activities with a clear learning goal typically do better, all physical activity helps students gain cardiovascular endurance and lose fat if they are overweight, which is great for every child’s health overall; sports especially help expose youth to the physical activities that will strengthen them.
The UN also maintains that frequent exercise decreases the risk of chronic diseases, reducing overall healthcare spending. It helps reduce factors that harm people, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, etc. While sports alone cannot cure diseases, they have been proven statistically to reduce the chances of chronic diseases. As many as 80% of deaths that occur from chronic diseases such as heart disease and stroke occur in low-middle income countries, making sports the best way to combat this trend, as people often cannot afford regular healthcare (“SPORT AND HEALTH PREVENTING DISEASE AND PROMOTING HEALTH,” n.d.). The UN states that lack of physical activity is the number one leading cause of cardiovascular problems, and as most sports are running based, sports are highly likely to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. Sports and physical activities have even been proven to reduce the chances of depression, something really important in today’s world! Sports are the best and greatest way to maintain constant exercise, while having fun with your friends. They are also a great way for disabled people to stay fit and in shape, and many leagues exist where handicapped people can play sports, notably basketball. Sports are a great way for disabled children to make friends and keep living their lives as normally as possible. While not everyone is disabled, is it not important to protect children by reducing their likelihood of becoming very sick? Parents should want their children to be as healthy as possible, and sports and exercise are the best way to reduce basic issues in their health.
Young people make up a huge percentage of the population in every country; therefore, it is important to set them up with healthy skills that they will continue to develop for life. Equally important are the social skills that children learn while playing sports together. Children’s brains develop at a remarkably early stage, and their interactions with each other shape their social development and their understanding of social dynamics. The European Union and the United Nations both consider sports vital for increasing the education and mental development of youths (“SPORT FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH,” n.d.). It is key, according the UN release, that children want to participate and they see value in the activity itself. Children use play and sports to explore the world around them, and they do the same socially while participating in team activities. Communication with other children and young adults help them form an idea of how they relate to other people. US studies also show that youths participating in these activities have a much higher self-esteem than those who do not (“SPORT FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH,” n.d.).
The same study also showed that sports play a large role in identity formation for young girls, because socialization often encourages women to focus on gaining other skills, such as nurturing skills and a high level of empathy. Therefore, sports are critical for girls to develop independence. Sports also encourage friendships among children and youth that they may keep for their lifetimes. Some believe that sports may encourage poor self-esteem if the children have a negative experience, but many parents believe that competition helps show their children that the world is a competitive place and sports will help them learn the skills they need. The United Nations report believes that there is evidence to support that sports help children learn problem solving skills and communication skills by playing. Sports contributes to this because of their popularity in some countries is high, creating a large sense of community among its participants. This is true in countries where the most commonly played sport is soccer, because most kids play from a very young age and it becomes part of the socialization process and culture. Many also believe that sports teach really important values to young kids, like teaching them to keep fighting against tough odds and teaching them to work as a team. Some sports are more individual sports, like track and other running sports. These sports are still really competitive, because they cause youth to compete against themselves, which can increase the skills that they learn in other sports. Therefore, no matter the type of sport, they increase the motivation of children while teaching them to work hard, increasing their skill set.
Numerous international agencies believe and provide evidence that sports help increase important social skills of young adults. Therefore, parents should be investing in sports for their children. Sports can also be a powerful form of socialization, as they inspire comradery between friends and higher levels of organization, such as a love for one’s country. Soccer today is a sport played across the world and the World Cup games attract patriots in every country, and fans maintain a friendly rivalry with other nations. This is true for the Olympics as well, where a nation’s athletes compete so that they may honor their home countries. Children are unlikely to do so well, but sports is a great way to teach cultural values through socialization. It is very important to allow kids the right to play sports. They will learn amazing skills, values, and social knowledge that is important.
Sports and friendly competition have been proven time and time again to increase the livelihood of children. It reduces obesity in children who are overweight, and by increasing knowledge about health and the risks of not maintain a healthy lifestyle, kids overall live much healthier lives. Sports and other physical activities also decreases the risk of chronic diseases, which kill a remarkable number of men and women in every country. Therefore, for health reasons alone, sports are vital to the wellbeing of children worldwide. They are also incredibly important in teaching children cultural values and social skills that are vital to their future as productive members of society. Children learn and grow by playing together. They learn by communicating together and working against tough situations to achieve the difficult. Therefore, with every benefit of sports considered, it is difficult to understand why anyone would disapprove. Do people not want their children to live happier, healthier lives?
References
Eime, R. M., Casey, M. M., Harvey, J. T., Charity, M. J., Young, J. A., & Payne, W. R. (2015). Participation in modified sports programs: A longitudinal study of children’s transition to club sport competition. BMC Public Health, 15(1). Retrieved from http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-2012-y
Alizadeh, Z., Khosravi, S., & Borna, S. (2013). Obese and overweight children and adolescents: An Algorithmic clinical approach. Iranian Journal of Pediatrics, 23(6). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4025117/
Hastie, P. A., Sluder, B. J., Buchanan, A. M., & Wadsworth, D. D. (2009). The impact of an obstacle course sport education season on students’ aerobic fitness levels. Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 80(4), 788–91. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40755654_The_Impact_of_an_Obstacle_Course_Sport_Education_Season_on_Students'_Aerobic_Fitness_Levels
SPORT FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from Un.org, http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/sport/shared/sport/SDP%20IWG/Chapter3_SportforChildrenandYouth(1).pdf
SPORT AND HEALTH PREVENTING DISEASE AND PROMOTING HEALTH. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from UN.org, http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/sport/shared/sport/SDP%20IWG/Chapter2_SportandHealth.pdf
