Thursday, October 10, 2013

Section 5: Physical Fitness

Write an introductory paragraph or at least five bullet points that explain why physical fitness is so important for young children. Include at least three developmental skills that children are learning at this age, and describe how physical activities can help children toward mastery of these skills. Be sure to cite evidence from the learning resources or, if desired, use other resources to support your claims.

  • Reasons why physical fitness is important for young children
  •  It prevents weight gain
  •   It prevents children from having diabetes or hypertension
  •   It can reduce stress in kids  
  • Children feel better about themselves

·         They can develop stronger bones and muscles
Children are learning to use their body as a part of exercising.  They are using gross skills, fine skills and movement skills.  Children can do different activities to engage in the skills.  With gross skills, kids can kick, catch and bat a ball or hop.  Fine skills deals with using your hands/fingers such as cutting paper or tracing.  Movement skills deal with bending, stretching and turning your body.

·         Explain what can happen when children do not engage in healthy fitness activities. Be sure to consider the impact on children of being overweight or obese, including implications for health and self-esteem.

When children do not engage in fitness, they can become overweight.  If they become overweight, they will develop health problems.  They can develop diabetes, heart disease, and breathing problems.  Children eat a lot of junk food instead of eating healthy food. 
Children that become overweight sometimes are depressed.  Students become targets by classmates at school and outside the school.  Depression can lead to people being obese.  I say this because some people will try and eat their feelings away instead of doing exercise.  When treating overweight kids, there is a chance the child will develop health problems.

·         Indicate how adults can help children develop good fitness habits. Describe at least two activities, such as specific games or movements, which are appropriate and enjoyable for children of this age. At least one of the activities should involve gross-motor (locomotor) skills, and another should involve fine-motor (manipulative) skills. Remember, the activities you recommend should be developmentally appropriate, which includes noncompetitive.
  
Adults can work out with their kids and tell them how important it is to remain active.  If you model these behaviors with your child, your child will also work out.  Parents should give their kids healthy snacks and fix healthy meals.  They need to increase their children activities.  The more they play or exercise the more they will become fit.

I will suggest my kids walk, play kick ball, and we can play catch.  Gross motor is when we use large body movement. (Robertson, 2013) 

·         Kick ball: I will roll ball to a student and they will use their leg to kick the ball.
·         Walk:  We will walk around our school and sing a song.  Singing will make the walk fun for the students.
·         Play catch:  I will throw the ball to each student.  He/She will catch the ball and throw it back to me.

We will do another activity dealing with fine motor skills.  Fine motor skills are physical skills related to small body movements, particularly of the hands and fingers. (Robertson, 201)
This activity will include cutting and pasting.  The students will cut out photos that begin with the letter B.  They will then glue those photos to a piece of construction paper.  Once the kids finish, I will give the child a piece of tape so they can hang their paper on the wall.  We will show the pictures to the parents doing our monthly meetings.

·         Based on your readings, include at least one inspirational, thought-provoking quote that captures your attitude and/or philosophy about fostering children's healthy growth and development.

“In February 2010, the First Lady, Michelle Obama, introduced a movement to help fight childhood obesity called “Lets Move! (Robertson, p. 260).”  I think this campaign has helped a lot of students.  It is a campaign to prevent obesity and help schools feed kids healthier foods.  I grew up as a child being overweight and I do not want others to go through what I went through.  I like this because they are starting to care about children in the United States and they want to stop obesity/overweight for our children.

·         For your fact sheet, draw on the information in the fitness articles from this week's Required Resources and your own research to provide evidence about the positive impact that physical activity has on children's health, both now and in the future. Be sure to cite your sources.

When toddlers begin head start, they become physically active.  When kids do physical activities, it a chance they will not become overweight.  If kids continue to exercise, they can miss the risk of having heart disease, depression, and breathing problems.  When children see their parents exercise and trying to stay fit, they will have the same attitude.  Data suggest that one in four children ages 2 to 5 is overweight and one in three children ages 6 to 17 is considered either overweight or obese (USDHHS, 2010).




References:

Robertson (2013-02-01). Safety, Nutrition and Health in Early Education. Wadsworth Publishing. Kindle Edition.













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