How A Child’s Mood is Based on their Nutrition & Physical Activity Level?
By Kiana Matakanski
Nutrition and physical activity are important in everyone’s lives. Food is one of our main sources of survival and without it, we wouldn’t function properly. Everyone hears that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s what “wakes” us up and prepares us for the day ahead. Having the proper nutrition and the minimum 30 minutes of exercise is the underlying basis of a healthy lifestyle – but is your child meeting this criterion on a daily basis? The child obesity rate has increased dramatically over the last few years. Recently, there has been many interventions and studied conducted to reduce this problem all around the country. School systems around the United States been fully involved on trying to get to the bottom of a child’s food intake and exercise. It’s now 2019 and the technology nowadays are super complex. Many elementary aged children and adolescence have tablets, cell phones, and tv’s in their rooms. This creates a huge increase in screen time and not enough play. Overall, children are at school for 8 hours a day, or even more, 5 days a week. School systems has changed over the years with their school lunches and have increased a more beneficial way in before and after school programs. Physical Education classes has been brought to the attention that is it crucial that all children participate. One study out of Somerville Massachusetts conducted an intervention throughout the community’s schools. It was known that children weren’t getting the proper fruit and vegetable intake. Test scores weren’t substantial and children were consuming their calories in high sugared drinks. Do you buy your child apple juice or sport performance drinks like Gatorade? Usually parents think that drinking Gatorade especially after a sports game will enhance their child’s electrolytes. This is WRONG. Each serving size is only about 8oz, high in calories, and sugar. To be smart, try getting the zero sugar and another plus to this is that there’s zero calories as well. Making smarter choices like this – big or small, can help your child’s energy throughout the day. It’s so important to have a parents’ support in their child’s healthy lifestyle. Let your child go outside. Let them socialize with their friends and other people outside of school. It’s so critical to have proper structure in their life in order to focus and maintain an adequate energy level for them to excel academically and socially.
The blog called Child & Family Bloghave very blogs/articles on a child’s development in social settings and at home. There are two options to pick on the home page.
· Early Childhood Development (Ages 0-3)
· Child Development (Ages 4-12)
Check it out!
References
Senlin Chen, Xihe Zhu, Welk, G. J., & Youngwon Kim. (2015). Tracking energy balance in adolescents: Levels of compliance, energy flux, and learning.
Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness, 13(1), 35–41.
Folta, C. S., Kuder, F. J., Goldberg, P. J., Hyatt, R. R., Must, A., & Naumova, N., E. (2013). Changes in diet and physical activity resulting from the Shape Up
Somerville community intervention. BMC Pediatrics, 13(1).
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