Yes take out time to exercise It is complicated in the world we live in, doing it with children is sometimes practically an impossible mission. On the other hand, children themselves sometimes do not reach the recommended physical activity times, either due to an excess of non-active extracurricular activities, not having access to outdoor places to play or due to abuse of certain sedentary leisure activities, such as games with video consoles.
Given that parents and children, each in their own way, have the same problems, two scientists from Nottingham Trent University, Scarlett Fountain and Karah Dring, had an idea: what if they designed a plan so that families could play sports together? In their case, they opted for rugby games in pairs, but other options could be useful. They found that, as they imagined, practicing exercise as a family provides benefits for both physical and mental health. And the best thing is that it is not necessary to completely change the daily routines of children and adults, since in just 45 minutes you can see the results.
Surveys that say it all. The authors of this research They began their study with a survey in which 25 families participated. Both adults and children had to answer a series of questions about their physical activity routines and the reasons why they consider that, if true, they do not practice enough sport. Adults agreed to mention problems such as the high price of organized activities or the lack of free time. There were also some who complained about not having local sports and leisure facilities nearby.
The children, for their part, reported that seeing their parents staying active encourages them to exercise more. In fact, it is something that also happened the other way around. Both parents and children inspire each other to stay active. The solution seemed clear.
45 minutes of rugby. After analyzing the results of the surveys, Fountain and Dring They decided to design a family physical activity program. It would be free, accessible and quick, to solve all the problems they observed in the responses of the participating parents, although not all of them signed up. Only 16 families participated in the program.
They chose rugby as a couple, as it is fun, adaptable and, unlike rugby typical team rugbyno contact. The 45-minute sessions included warm-ups, skills practice and small games. Before and after, both parents and children had to solve a series of cognitive tests on a computer. In addition, blood samples were taken from the adults. These results were compared with another 45-minute rest session, which would serve as a control.
Good for physical and mental health. Both children and adults improved cognitive test scores after exercising as a family. For example, children performed better on a working memory task right after exercise. For their part, parents showed improvements in information processing. These improvements were maintained for at least 45 minutes.
Regarding physical health, it was seen that, after lunch, adults had the same blood glucose levels as after rest, but less insulin. This means that they needed less amount of the hormone to regulate the levels of sugar consumed. His cells responded very well to insulin, they showed no resistance.
Family exercise is beneficial for physical and mental health
From school to work. As the authors of the study explained in an article for The Conversationa third of adults do not reach the recommended levels of physical activity. They don’t clarify where, but it is possibly in the United Kingdom. Even so, it is something that can be totally extrapolated to other parts of the world. On the other hand, only 4 out of 5 children between 11 and 17 years old do 60 minutes of exercise a day. Less than an hour of physical activity each day is very little for a child.
The consequences for physical health are very clear, but sometimes we do not take into account how this influences cognitive performance at work, school, or simply in everyday life. For this reason, they believe that much more emphasis should be placed on providing families with opportunities to exercise together. If it is not possible separately, the solution, clearly, is to exercise as a team.
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