Health. Sport and Physical Activity

1. Health, Sport and
Physical Activity
A Barber
11539477

2. How important is your child’s
health?

3. Health can be broken up in to two parts;
Physical and Mental. Physical Health is the
overall wellbeing and functioning on the
individual’s body. Mental Health is one’s 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 Australia’s
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.

6. A child’s 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 aren’t 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.

8. 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.

9. 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 aren’t 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.

11. 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.

12. It is critical that people regularly participate in sport and
physical activity despite age, ability, gender and back
ground.

13. 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.

14. 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 child’s lungs, heart
and blood vessels (Cohen, 2013).

15. 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%.

16. 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.

17. The school playground can be one of the most important
arenas for encouraging children’s physical activity.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

23. 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 children’s physical and mental health
(BMC Public Health, 2014, p.4)

24. References
Information and Photos

25. 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
children’s 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

26. 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