It’s known that many of the habits that shape our adult lives are set in childhood. Physical activity is crucial for a growing body as movement and weight bearing have a huge impact on improving bone strength, muscle and tendon health. Following are some tips to help your child stay as active as possible.
1. Find an activity that suits your child.
For children with a competitive nature, good levels of coordination, and an interest in playing with or making new friends, you may find that team sports are best suited to them. Benefits include an increase in their self-esteem and motivation towards exercising. However, some children may find being part of a team uncomfortable.
Other children may prefer a sport where success is measured by improvements in their own performance, rather than being compared to other children. Surfing, yoga, martial arts, dancing or gymnastics are examples of activities that may suit your child if competitive and team sports cause them to be discouraged.
2. Get injuries checked out by a professional and invest in proper rehabilitation.
While children do often bounce back quickly from injuries, they also may have difficulty expressing types of pain and discomfort. Sometimes we see that a consistent niggling pain can cause children to say “I don’t like sport” rather than realising that they are in pain.
Some children may have persistent worries that they will hurt themselves again because of a previous injury and avoid exercise all together. Your physiotherapist can help to identify any pain or other issues that your child is having and work towards helping to resolve them.
3. Set fun and challenging goals for them to complete during their daily routine.
As few children are walking and riding to school, try to find ways to fit extra activities into the day. Some fun examples include running a daily long jump competition in the backyard, creating a challenging obstacle course or composing a routine of age appropriate exercises, such as star jumps, hopping, balancing and running on the spot. You can make these exercises part of the night or morning ritual, just like brushing your teeth.
Talk to your physiotherapist for more tips on how to increase your child’s activity levels. Finding an activity that matches your child’s age level is key to keeping them engaged and active.
None of the information in this article is a replacement for proper medical advice. Always see a medical professional for advice on your individual injury.