Exercise does a body good, regardless of your age, gender or size. In today’s fast-paced, technology driven world, it’s even more important to instill decent exercise habits at a young age and arm our youth with the tools they need to build a solid foundation of physical activity. If you stop by the CrossFit Tradewinds studio on a Tuesday afternoon, you will see a room full of endorphin-fueled kids, lunging, jumping, and frog-hopping their way across the floor. The weekly class is one of many kids exercise programs that are popping up across the United States as experts find more and more research supporting the benefits of exercise in youngsters who are often exposed to countless hours of screen time on any given day.
“The goal of our Kids Programs at CrossFit Tradewinds is to create a positive and fun association with fitness through exercises and games that teach movement and body awareness, with the mission to improve a child’s overall wellness,†said Mary Boimila, head coach and owner.
The main goal of a fitness program geared for kids under seven, is to help establish proper movement through a variety of different physical activities and create positive habits that they can take with them through life. In addition to learning body awareness and movement, kids in these programs will naturally develop significant motor function and brain function skills, build confidence, teamwork and leadership skills, and self-awareness.
Because technology has allowed for great physical convenience in today’s world, we walk less than ever before, and kids spend on average between four and six hours a day in front of a screen. Making matters worse, the food products that line our grocery store shelves, are packed with refined sugar and less fiber, which leads to an increase in both insulin response and calorie uptake. The combination of our food products and lack of exercise, has naturally caused a rise in obesity amongst children, however; kid’s exercise programs are aiming to break the lifestyle patterns and poor behaviors that are part of our environmental conditions. By instilling a positive association with exercise, kids will soon have a desire to be fit and adopt goals that will lead to longer and healthier lives.
In the United States, 16.9 percent of individuals between the ages of 2 and 19, have a body mass index measurement that is at or above the 95th percentile for their gender and age. There are both short-term and long-term health issues associated with childhood obesity and victims are likely to suffer from glucose intolerance, sleep apnea, depression, and type 2 diabetes. If poor exercise and eating habits continue into adulthood, these same individuals will be at a higher risk for osteoarthritis, heart disease and cancer. This obesity issue spills outside of the United States and is a global concern, and the prediction for early childhood obesity is predicted to rise to 36 percent worldwide. Sedentary behavior is one of the main contributing factors and is showing to increase in children well before they get into high school, due to the fact that today’s youth is simply not as active as they used to be. Programs like CrossFit Kids are one way that fitness professionals are intervening in an attempt to change how kids view exercise.
“I want to provide kids the opportunity to build their confidence, improve their health, and have fun while doing it, in an inclusive and safe environment,†Boimila said.