All school kids should get about 60 minutes of exercise per day, says an Institute of Medicine report. They do not have to work out for an hour straight. In fact, the best results come from children engaging in physical activities for about 30 minutes during school hours and 30 minutes before or after school. School’s the best premise for children to adopt an active lifestyle. They can learn new games, participate in competitions and work on their skills together with their friends.
Why Should Your School Pay More Attention to the Physical Health of Students?
The reports of the American Heart Association state that about 10 million kids and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight. 25% of the children in 2018 do not participate in any physical activity. Most children spend more than 9 hours sitting throughout the day. Mobile phones, social networking, and online games have replaced outdoor activity. Most kids take the bus or get dropped by their parents to school instead of walking or biking. There is an increasing incidence of the lack of physical activity among children and adolescents in 2018.
According to the Letβs Move campaign, 33% of the children born after 2000 may have type two diabetes in their adulthood, and others may suffer from sitting diseases and obesity-related health problems including cancer, high blood pressure, heart diseases, and asthma. Check out HireFitness for more information on how getting new equipment for your PE class can boost the overall health of your students.
How Can New Fitness Equipment in the School Gym Help Children?
Physical education programs that boost physical health and mental fitness should be mandatory in all schools. Sometimes, running and sports are not enough for attending to the fitness needs of children of growing ages. School gyms require physical education classes with special training and fitness equipment. Moderate to vigorous activity is necessary for children to burn the excess calories they consume from junk food and to reverse the ill effects of sedentary lifestyles.
Benefits of Having a Fitness Program at Schools
Here are a few benefits most schools should consider adding new school gym equipment to their school.
Increase in Interest
For years, PE classes have been synonymous with dodgeball and football. It is finally time the schools paid more attention to new gym equipment to boost enthusiasm among the kids. New leverage equipment, dumbbells, and cable machines can add a layer of excitement to the otherwise drab physical fitness classes. New programmable treadmills, electrical rowing machines, and stationary exercise bikes will not only help the children focus on improving their core strength, but will also enable them to participate in a healthy competition of endurance, strength, and fitness among each other.
Reduction in Stress Levels
Kids today attend school, participate in extracurricular activities and prepare for competitive exams regularly. Their stress levels are always high, and they hardly ever catch the break they deserve. Adding new equipment to their fitness regimen might seem counterintuitive, but it can improve their mental fitness along with their physical fitness. Working out regularly stimulates the release of serotonin and endorphins which are the natural painkillers cum stress-busters of the body. These are the happiness hormones that help fight depression. That should help them perform well in other fields as well.
Develops Healthy Habits
Working out at the school gym regularly will help the kids develop healthy habits for life. No matter what professions they choose, they will seek out fitness regimens and maintain their gym memberships. They will learn to take care of their bodies and minds. Good habits should form early in the lives of kids to give them the maximum benefit. They will acquire control of their emotions, learn discipline and perform well in class. If they manage to carry these habits back into their adulthood, they will be able to prevent injuries later in their life.
Improvement in Social Interactions
Learning to share and care during the PE classes helps the kids work in collaboration with each other. Collaborative exercises give them the opportunity to form new friendships. Social networking and messaging are not enough to build or maintain real relationships in life. Team spirit and sportsmanship always begin in the field, but social interactions and new friendships always form in a healthy and well-equipped gym area. Your school should think about getting new gym equipment for the children. It can encourage the kids to help each other to achieve new landmarks.
Increase Learning Abilities
Since physical workout reduces stress and improves mental health, in general, it also enhances the learning ability of the kids. Schools with dedicated physical education classes and proper fitness equipment show better performance of their students in state-level examinations than those without dedicated PE equipment or PE instructors. It is no longer enough to have a football coach and dodgeball sessions to ensure extraordinary performance from the children. The kids of the 21st century need more impetus than the baby boomers, and Gen X ever did. They need fitness machinery that piques their interest and challenges their physical abilities.
Reduces the Chances of Obesity and Sitting Diseases
Sitting diseases include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular ailments, lung problems, arthritis, and spondylitis. In fact, any form of physical disorder and discomfort that can arise from the gross lack of enough physical activity and movement can be a sitting disease. Obesity is one of the leading causes of concern among the parents of todayβs kids. Most kids are busy preparing for tests, playing video games, watching TV, or gorging on junk food. Combining that with the lack of physical activity is the perfect recipe for obesity. Adding new training equipment to your school gym can increase the average fitness of the students and reduce their chances of suffering from any of these lifestyle diseases significantly.
There is nothing bad about adding some exercise to someoneβs daily routine irrespective of their current age, fitness level, and busy schedule. With increasing levels of automation and technology in their lives, kids require a dose of physical activity in their daily routine more than anyone else in the world!
