Time to get active
Nursery World | Dr Lala Manners | 13 May 2016
Ahead of 4Children’s Healthy Children, Bright Futures conference next month, Dr Lala Manners looks at how to tackle childhood obesity in the early years.
Childhood obesity is now an epidemic in the UK, with twelve per cent of children starting nursery overweight or obese. This number rises to 22 per cent at reception age, and 33 percent by the time children arrive at secondary school.
Abstract| Why is it important for young children to be active?
On a basic physical level, being active promotes muscle and bone growth. Daily movement experience also supports the vital vestibular and proprioceptive systems – both of which are intricately linked to learning and utterly dependent on daily physical activity to work effectively.
The benefits of physical activity to children’s social and emotional health and well-being are many and varied. Simply through the daily experience of physical activity, children learn about themselves and the world. They learn to delegate, co-operate and negotiate with their peers whilst experiencing how to work effectively in a team. They also begin to understand the need for patience, resilience and determination as the acquisition, rehearsal and refinement of physical skills takes time, effort and practice.
They also learn the important art of self-regulation – when children deal with disappointment, failure, competition and success, they figure out what they most enjoy.
