Fitness Promotion in schools and colleges
Introduction
Fitness can be defined as the ability of an individual to perform certain aspects of a sporting activity or in another meaning it can refer to an occupation. Physical fitness is a crucial aspect of the human life that need to be emphasized starting from a young age, middle and old age. Keeping our bodies fit may be achieved through a number of ways for example through exercise, correct nutrition and maintaining a proper hygiene and rest. Physical fitness in schools should be a vital activity that should be emphasized in the curriculum to help students perform physical activities. It can be incorporated in their leisure time to go hand in hand with mental exercise that help a student become an all-round student both in class and outdoor. This will give the student an edge to perform physical activities that align to their age and merge these activities with class work to keep the child growth in check and help avoid hypokinetic diseases (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2011).
Obesity among school going children in most developed and developing countries have raised quite a lot of concern mainly due to the risk the child is in and the ability to balance with school work. A school thus forms a basic platform that can be used to emphasis and implement fitness programs that are geared towards improving a person’s physical activity and maintain a healthy life. School heads have been faced by a challenge on how to implement and execute physical fitness among students and focus them on the school work curriculum. An effective way to prevent child obesity in school is to indulge children in physical-exercises and offer information on how to live healthy and maintain a balanced life. In a society that is leaning more to a sedentary lifestyle it’s important we emphasize the need for physical fitness to be included in the school curriculum. This will not only safeguard the life of our children but also help them maintain their weight and cardiovascular fitness and eradicate some of the hypokinetic diseases in our generation and future ones (Frank-Spohrer, 1996).
Ways to promote fitness in Schools
Fitness does not only mean physical capability but it also encompasses the mental strength and thus it’s very important to acknowledge the effects of fitness on the human life. Fitness gives an individual the physical and mental strength that can help him or her to maintain a healthy body and check on weight. A healthy and fit student is more capable of handling class work better as research has shown as it helps remove traces of stress and relaxes the mind. Regular body exercise helps the body maintain a strong cardio and helps to reduces chances of having a heart attack or failure. There are many benefits that can be derived from maintaining a healthy fit body.
Fitness of the body has for a long time been associated with fewer visits to the hospital and medications the body is able to fight some of the lifestyle ailments that affect human beings. Maintaining a healthy dieting and physical exercise has been effective in reducing the risk of contracting certain ailments like colon cancer, high blood pressure, risk of stroke and diabetes. Body exercises have been effective in relieving mental stress and depression among people and give people pleasure that is beneficial to their health. The benefits of physical and mental exercise go a long way in maintaining and improving the strength and success of individual and thus it should be emphasized in learning institution and in the society (Gregory & Nutrition and Physical Activity Work Group, 2002).
Times are changing and new challenges continue to influence and affect human life on this amazing planet we call Earth. These challenges range from health to life threating calamities which some are caused by man in his willingness to improve his wellbeing. Health has been a major concern for many people and thus the need to emphasis the need to live a healthy life is of outmost concern (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2011). Technology has been one of the man greatest treasures that he can use to improve his wellbeing as it has made easier for humans to interact on a common platform.
Technology can be used to help students and other people in the society to maintain their physical and mental fitness through a number of applications that can be incorporated in the school curriculum. Fitness routines can be mounted on mass media that help educate people on the need to maintain physical exercises at the comfort of ones ‘home or place of work. The need to promote and encourage fitness among the young generation has risen due to a number of factors that have put their lives at high risk of sedentary ailments. Technology can be used to play a major role in encouraging people to be more involved in physical exercises especially at a young age and as they grow into adulthood (Frank-Spohrer, 1996). The school curriculums nowadays have taken up the digital era where most information can be availed by the press of a button on search engines like Google.
One way through which technology can be applied to promote physical and mental fitness among students is via social media. The digital era has helped ease the way people interact by creating a platform where students and the young generation can access and learn way through which they can maintain a healthy lifestyle by indulging in physical exercises. It’s through this social media that students can share software applications developed to suit the education curriculum. For example the iPhone has an application that students and teacher can use to promote physical fitness by exercising regularly and thus maintain a healthier lifestyle. The application has features like the Accelerometer that measures the body organs and monitors their progress as one continues to exercise. This application is available on smart phones that most students use. The application has been used by fitness experts and its use can be emphasized as it helps the body not to over limit its capabilities (Gregory & Nutrition and Physical Activity Work Group, 2002). Another way is through video games that can be encouraged as they offer students a chance to engage in physical and mental exercise. Such games may include Wii that ma incorporate the Wii Sports and Wii Fit among students.
Conclusion
There are many benefits that can be attributed to undertaking physical and mental exercise more so among school going children and youth. These benefits range from maintain and balancing the right body weight and healthy lifestyle that has been attributed by the sedentary lifestyle in our society today. Physical fitness should form part of the student curriculum and should be promoted among students and encourage them to emulate that culture for the rest of their lives. Technology may be used as one of the platform through which this objective can be achieved among students, young and old generation. Its promotion will help and create a healthier society for our children to grow in. physical exercises may range from swimming, walking, participating in sporting activities and dancing just to name a few.
References
Cottrell, R. R., & McKenzie, J. F. (2011). Health promotion and education research methods: Using the five-chapter thesis/dissertation model. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Frank-Spohrer, G. C. (1996). Community nutrition: Applying epidemiology to contemporary practice. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers.
Gregory, S., & Nutrition and Physical Activity Work Group. (2002). Guidelines for comprehensive programs to promote healthy eating and physical activity. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
