Movement and young children: Good old-fashioned play grows healthy kids

Time was, getting a toddler to slow down long enough for a sip of juice or to read Curious George was nearly impossible. Given the opportunity, young children hit the floor running in the morning and then move, groove and explore until they fall into bed at night. This is how their bodies were designed to grow healthy and strong, and how their minds are filled with new ideas and information about their world.

However times have changed, and, to a degree, so has our way of living. On-the-go parents mean on-the-go babies and tots. More and more, today's youngest children spend chunks of their days strapped into car seats and strollers. They watch "The Wiggles" on DVD rather than doing the wiggling themselves. And the advent of such pint-sized technology as electronic LeapPads has many preschoolers pushing computer keys rather than pushing trucks through the sandbox.

Innovation and invention can be wonderful, and today's technologies have changed our lives in many meaningful ways. Consider, for example, how quick and easy it is to share digital holiday photos by e-mail or how much faster you and your family can enjoy dinner together thanks to the microwave.

Yet, when it comes to young children's growth and development during the early years, low-tech, even no-tech, is still best.

Increasingly, our nation's obesity epidemic is affecting younger and younger children. According to the American Heart Association, more than 10 percent of U.S. children ages 2 to 5 were overweight in the year 2002, up from 7 percent in 1994. Additionally, toddlers and preschoolers are showing early signs of such health problems as diabetes, heart disease, elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol-all of which were once unheard of in young children.

Researchers say that in most of these cases, less active lifestyles coupled with poor eating habits are the cause.

The mind and body benefits of movement

Aside from maintaining a healthy weight, regular physical activity is also what early childhood researchers and teachers say children need to grow-both in mind and body. A recent study of preschoolers in Scotland showed that children who had 90 additional minutes of physical activity over their usual per week amounts increased their motor skill development. Motor skills are "the basics" used to walk, run, throw, jump and kick.

Regular exercise strengthens the heart and increases endurance for all activities, physical and not. It helps children progress through the stages of early childhood movement (creeping to crawling, crawling to standing, standing to walking and eventually running.) It also prepares them for preschool activities (group games and sports) and elementary school learning that requires sitting for lengths of time, holding books to read, grasping crayons to draw and pencils to write.

Encouraging physical play and movement-solo and with you-also teaches children that these types of activities help them feel good and can be lots of fun. Elementary school physical education teachers agree that the more practice children have with climbing, hopping and crawling (to name just a few active pursuits), the stronger they feel and the more confidence they'll have in their physical abilities. This self-assurance encourages children to try new sports and activities in and outside of gym class, to move with more grace and ease and to stay active throughout their lives.

Walking-and running-in a winter wonderland

It's a fact: physically active parents are more likely to have active children. Although it's cold outside, winter is a wonderful time for everyone in the family to play together. Here are some ideas to try:

• Grow some snow. Snow days offer lots of fun fitness opportunities. Children can learn the concepts of big, bigger and biggest, and increase their arm, leg and torso strength as they roll snowballs through the snow and watch them grow. Encourage the whole family to make snowballs and compare the sizes. Once inside, you can snuggle together and see how your snow creations compare with those in such pictures books as The Biggest Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler and Snowballs by Lois Ehlert.
   
• Coming to your backyard: the 2007 Winter Olympics. Grab your sleds, head for the closest hill and see how far you can travel. Hold long-jump competitions in the snow, or make snowballs and use them for a shot-put event.
   
• Create rainbows in the snow. Fill squeeze and spray bottles (available at dollar stores and pharmacies) with water dyed with food coloring. Using the snow as their canvas, encourage your budding Picassos to paint in colorful ways. This type of activity encourages arm, hand and finger muscle strength.
   
• Take it indoors when the temperature dips. When it's too nippy to play outside, encourage your children to be active indoors by creating obstacle courses around the house or posing on the living room floor as the letters of the alphabet. Here Come the ABCs, a CD by They Might Be Giants, offers silly musical inspiration for this activity.
   
• Clip paper chains and lacy snowflakes. Cutting and pasting encourage fine motor skill development, particularly in hands and fingers. Occupational therapists report that more and more children are beginning school without practice in these important skills. [top]

Movement matters

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends that all young children be involved in a variety of age-appropriate physical activities, beginning at birth, to develop their motor skills and spark a life-long willingness and ability to exercise.

Infants should be encouraged to explore their environments and be given opportunities to become skillful movers through rolling over, sitting up, standing and walking. Children should not be confined to a stroller, car seat or chair for more than 60 minutes a day, except when sleeping.

Toddlers should have safe places to roam, indoors and outdoors, and get at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily. This can be as simple as loading up a toy backhoe with rocks and dumping its contents all over the back lawn or playing on bikes and other kid-powered riding toys.

Preschoolers should have at least 60 minutes of structured physical activity daily and several hours of unstructured movement. This might include such activities as ball games that involve rolling or catching, swimming, gymnastics, dance, or simply following friends on an obstacle course around the backyard or park.

Less screen time, more active time

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children older than 2 should watch no more than one to two hours of quality television a day. They also recommend that children under age 2 should have no screen time (e.g., television, DVDs, computer and videogames) at all.

Dress for outdoor success

When heading outdoors for winter fun, remember to dress warmly and stay dry.

Adults and children should wear:

• several thin layers of clothing, such as thermal long johns, turtlenecks, one or two shirts, pants, sweaters and fleece jackets. The rule of thumb for older babies and young children is to dress them in one more layer of clothing than an adult would wear in the same conditions;
   
• wind- and water-resistant coats with sleeves that are snug at the wrist;
   
• warm socks;
   
• shoes or boots with rubber treads;
   
• hats;
   
• scarves or knit masks to cover face and mouth; and
   
• mittens or gloves with liners.

Set reasonable time limits on outdoor play. Head indoors periodically to warm up. Avoid taking infants outdoors for lengths of time when it is colder than 40 degrees F. Infants lose body heat more quickly than toddlers and older children.

Source: The American Academy of Pediatrics, http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/decwintertips.htm

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