1. Health, Sport and Physical Activity A Barber 11539477
2. How important is your childs health?
3. Health can be broken up in to two parts; Physical and
Mental. Physical Health is the overall wellbeing and functioning on
the individuals body. Mental Health is ones ability state of mind
and ability to cope with the everyday things going on around us
(Reach Out, 2015).
4. 11% of Australian children do not meet Australias national
guidelines for Physical Activity. Statistics also showed that for
many of these children obesity follows them into adulthood. Todays
it is said that approximately 1 in 5 Australian children are
overweight or obese. Health issues can develop from genetics,
unhealthy eating patterns and lack of physical activity.
5. A childs family can play a vital role in whether or not they
are healthy or unhealthy. If parents are overweight it can mean
that the child will also be too. This can result from genetics or
family eating and exercise patterns. Children look up to their
parents as role models. If the child sees that their parents arent
participating in physical activity they can begin to think that it
is okay to not part take in physical activity. Parents control what
their children eat meaning that it is up to them to ensure the
child is eating healthily.
6. If obesity is not targeted and managed during childhood it
can lead to a series of physical health issues during adulthood.
These health issues can include; stroke or heart disease, high
blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers. The effects of obesity
on a child can be the development of long term physical problems
such as; heart, bones, hormones and reproductive organs. Along with
the physical is the psychological issues. These include isolation,
bullying and poor self-esteem.
7. Obesity can cause not only physical health issues but mental
health issues such as depression. Depression can be associated with
obesity. The relationship between depression and obesity can be
dangerous. For some depression causes the obesity whereas for
others the depression is brought on because of obesity. Just
because they are a child does not mean they arent at risk of
developing depression. Although it may not happen not happen then
it can quite possibly develop later in life as a result of their
childhood.
8. The National Survey for Mental Health and Wellbeing recorded
that 14% of adolescents aged 4-17 experience mental health problems
(Rivers, 2009). Obesity can lead to bullying. The bullying can take
the form of verbal (name calling), physical and being isolated
because children no longer want to be friends with them as they may
think that they are lazy or mean because of their appearance.
9. It is critical that people regularly participate in sport
and physical activity despite age, ability, gender and back
ground.
10. Playing sport or participating in physical activity can
help improve both mental and physical health. Mental health is
improved through building friendships in sport. Many sport
activities involve teams and therefore give the child the
opportunity to develop friendships with the other children. This
can help lift their self-esteem especially if the child has been
excluded by others based on their health status. It can also
promote self-esteem through positive body imaging and being in a
positive social environment. It is also suggested that it can
release anxiety in many adolescents.
11. Sport and/or physical activity has long been used as a
treatment and form of rehabilitation for diseases e.g. obesity and
other health issues. Sport can help you lose and or avoid putting
excess on. This is because sport helps burn calories and build lean
muscle. It is suggested that this can be achieved through two and a
half hours of high intensity physical activity. Physical activity
can help avoid serious medical issues later on in life as it
improves the health of the childs lungs, heart and blood vessels
(Cohen, 2013).
12. As the child develops it is important that they part take
in physical activity as it helps with bone and muscle health. In
young people sport is particularly important as it can help develop
motor skills and cognitive function. Sport can decrease the risk of
suffering a stroke later in life by approximately 50%.
13. Exercise is mildly effective at improving depressive
symptoms in individuals with chronic physical illness (ASEP, 2013).
Physical health correlates with mental health. If the individual is
physically healthy than their self-esteem lifts whereas if they are
not physically healthy their self-esteem is typically low.
14. The school playground can be one of the most important
arenas for encouraging childrens physical activity.
15. The AIS or Australian Institute of Sport have developed a
scaffold for school based strategies to promote sport and physical
activity. These include; remodelling the school, educating the
teachers on the importance of physical activity, integrate sport
into homework, maximise sport in OOSH centres, give the students a
voice when deciding on the sport.
16. Schools can encourage physical activity and therefore
promote health by having a healthy canteen and removing the lollies
and unhealthy foods, having fruit break where they encourage
children to eat one piece of fruit along with producing a play
environment that promotes physical activity.
17. This promotion of physical activity can be from having
cricket nets or a large sporting areas for them or bringing out
various pieces of equipment (e.g. balls and skipping ropes) at
break times.
18. During primary school they have a sports day mainly at the
end of the week. Depending on the time of year the sports change
from term to term. This change gives them an opportunity to sample
a range of different sports. By giving the students the opportunity
to sample the various sports they are able to gain a sense of the
sports they like and can pursue them outside of school.
19. It is shown that children who participate in Active Play
during their breaks have enhanced coping skills. Maximising quality
play opportunities during school breaks has the potential to
enhance childrens physical and mental health (BMC Public Health,
2014, p.4)
20. References Information and Photos
21. Information: ASEP. (2013). Exercise and Mental Health: An
Exercise and Sports Science Australia Commissioned Review. Journal
of Exercise Physiology. Retrieved from:
https://www.asep.org/asep/asep/JEPonlineAUGUST2013_Morgan.pdf
Cohen, B. (2013). How does playing sport effect your health?.
Retrieved from:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/245944-how-does-playing-sports-affect-your-
health/ Hyndman, B., Benson, A., Ullah, S, & Telford, A.
(2014). Evaluating the effects of the Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity
Program (LEAP) school playground intervention on childrens quality
of life, enjoyment and participation in physical activity. BMC
Public Health. Retrieved from:
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=86c
d23c8-6ca6-404e-8ce5-1cdbd1959e1e%40sessionmgr110&vid=4&hid=124
ReachOut.com. (2015). What is Mental Health?. Retrieved from:
http://au.reachout.com/what-is-mental-
health?gclid=CjwKEAjwvPepBRCoqo37teOD1XsSJAC7v6WQuJE9AJNKE34fdnJwTJTh6AJZ
NeLJkGPAfzvKAwNqzBoCub_w_wcB
22. Rivers, A. (2009). A growing problem- children with a
mental illness or mental disorder. Journal of the Consumers Health
Forum of Australia. Retrieved from:
https://www.chf.org.au/pdfs/hvo/hvo-2009-4-children-with-mental-illness-
disorder.pdf Photo: Tom, P.A. (2013) 5 reasons to make your child
play sport. Retrieved from:
http://www.popsugar.com/moms/Reasons-Kids-Play-Sports-31096369
Addanke, G. (2013) What do 10 Food Pyramids, 2 Food Plates and 1
Spinning Top have in common?. Retrieved from:
http://blog.mindfulmeal.com/healthy-
cooking/global-food-pyramids-and-food-plates/ Kids Matter. (n.d.)
How Mental Health Difficulties affect children (0-5). Retrieved
from:
https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/families/about-mental-health/should-i-
be-concerned/how-mental-health-difficulties-affect-children