By: Lizeth Tapia
Physical activity can bring many health benefits including reducing the risk of disease, improving brain health, strengthening bones and muscles, and improving the ability to do everyday activities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), physical activity can help adolescents maintain a healthy body weight and therefore decrease the risk of certain chronic diseases. Healthy People 2030 suggests that adolescents get 60 minutes of physical activity a day, 3 days a week. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines physical activity as any movement that is part of a person’s day including simple activities (i.e., walking, bike riding) or more intensive activities (i.e., playing a sport, dancing, running, lifting weights).
Healthy People 2030 lists many objectives created to improve the health of adolescents and tracks the status of achieving these objectives. One of the physical activity objectives is to increase the proportion of adolescents who do enough aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities. However, this objective is not currently being met. Parents can be key in encouraging their children to do more physical activity by setting an example and getting involved themselves. Below are some tips on how parents can get more involved in their children’s physical activity.
References
Adolescents – Healthy People 2030 | Health.gov. (n.d.). https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/adolescents
Benefits of physical activity. (2023, August 1). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm
FastStats. (n.d.). Adolescent Health. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/adolescent-health.htm
Healthy weight. (2023, January 19). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/index.html
Making physical activity a part of a child’s life | Physical Activity | CDC. (n.d.). https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adding-pa/activities-children.html
World Health Organization: WHO. (2022). Physical activity. http://www.who.int. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity