Today's youths are tempted by sedentary activities such as playing video games or watching TV rather than being active outside. Activities such as swimming can be valuable for children because exercise is achieved while playing in the water, even if the child doesn't see it as exercise.
Importance of Exercise
Exercise helps combat childhood obesity, but the benefits of aerobic exercise such as the kind achieved while swimming are extensive. It can improve your overall heart health, lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels, improve circulation, reduce the risk for many types of diseases, including cancer, and improve your psychological health. Doctors recommend children exercise most days of the week, if not every day. In most cases, this can be achieved by playing outdoor games that keep them moving and their heart rate elevated.
Swimming Effects
Children in the water are almost always moving around to stay afloat and to get around, which provides resistance against the body. Swimming strokes produce aerobic exercise because they elevate the heart rate and are low-intensity, endurance-based activities. But even simple water games played among children can produce an aerobic effect in children.
Other Benefits
Swimming has other benefits beyond its physical effects. The ability to swim is a valuable life skill, enabling people to enter bodies of water safely. Swimming skills can also help an individual when they find themselves stranded in the water. Swimming also has social benefits because many children learn to swim and visit swimming pools with their peers, encouraging them to participate in swimming by making it a social event.
Considerations
You generally have two options for getting your kids involved in a swimming program: you can either take them to swimming lessons, where they will learn basic swimming skills, or you can enter them into a competitive swimming program or swim team. If these options are not possible or practical, having your kids spend time at the local pool will also encourage them to have fun in the water and get exercise while socializing with friends.
Member Comments