Physical Fitness

Many children of the television era, have grown up without quality physical
fitness in their life. So many children today lead a sedentary lifestyle, while eating
processed foods that lead to obesity. This has become an increasing problem for
today’s youth. Incorporating physical activity into a child’s everyday schedule is so
important for the following reasons...

1. Physical activity on a regular basis encourages good habits for life
2. It enhances the coordination of necessary skills that children are mastering
3. It is needed to balance food intake and metabolism, especially since we are
eating more processed foods, which have more calories than needed.
4. It helps in forming social relationships when done as a group
5. If physical activity is not done on a regular basis, it can lead to obesity, lethargy,
diabetes, heart disease and chronic illness (www.journal.naeyc.org)

Preschool children are mastering many important fine and gross motor skills at
this stage that are required for healthy development. Adults can help foster these skills
by incorporating daily movement and exercise into the child’s routine that encourages
fine and gross motor development. One of the key skills that children of this age are
mastering is balance. When a child has an opportunity to practice walking on a balance
beam or an incline board, they are using not only their leg muscles, but coordinating
their entire body to move in a specific way, so as not to fall. This incorporates using their
arms, legs, torso and cognitive abilities working together.
Another skill that preschoolers are mastering is jumping. Jumping may sound easy, but
using ones body in such a way as to get the entire body off the ground in one fluid
motion is a task that needs practicing. Jumping rope is wonderful for children of this age.
This activity incorporates the use of fine motor skills, to hold the rope in place; large
motor skills to move both legs off of the ground simultaneously; and the use of the
torso to keep the body in alignment.
A final skill that preschool children are mastering
is catching. This involves the use of the midsection or core of the body. When a child
throws a ball, they are using their upper body to direct the ball where they want it to
go. When they are catching, this involves moving their body into a position to catch
the ball and then using the upper body to grab and hold onto the ball. (Beyond the
Journal, Young children on the web March 2004)

Staying active is not just the job of the preschooler. It takes everyone to
teach children the importance of good health practices. “High–quality early
childhood education programs should provide a safe and nurturing environment that
promotes the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children,
while responding to the needs of families.” ( Bredekamp and Copple 1997) I believe
that this holds true on so many levels. Ensuring the health of children is everyone’s
job. It takes families and teachers working together to promote a healthy lifestyle. If
the teacher incorporates physical activity into the daily routine and curriculum, the
children will learn that being healthy and active is a part of life it is not an option.
Hopefully, the children will take the information home with them and utilize it as part
of their home life too. Parents are just as important, if not more so, in teaching children
good health habits. If parents are healthy and active, chances are the children will be too.
This way a child can learn to be healthy for their entire life.