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Children’s Health Awareness

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Table of content

• Stages of motor development for young children.

• Importance of physical activity for the developing child and provide examples.

• Impact that families and the community can have on children’s health and physical activity.

• Examples of physical activities

• Examples of healthy eating practices that families can implement at home.

• Local resources for families to make healthy lifestyle choices within their own community

• Outside sources that support the relationship between regular physical activity and children’s health.

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Stages of motor development for young children

• Three stages of motor development in children.

• The first stage is marked by extremely rapid growth and development, as is the second stage. By the age of 2 years old, this development has begun to level out somewhat.

• The final stage does not have any marked new developments, rather it is characterized by the mastering and development of the skills achieved in the first two stages

Infant

hood(0-2

YEARS)

Early Childhood(2-6

YEARS)

Later Childhood(6-12 YEARS and later)

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/Motor%20Dev/stages.htm

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Stages of motor development for young children

Age Motor Developmental Milestones1–1.5 months When held upright, holds head erect and steady

1.6–2 months When prone, lifts self by arms; rolls from side to back.

2.1–4.5 months

Rolls from tummy to side.Rests on elbows, lifts head 90 degrees Sits propped up with hands, head steady for short time

3 months Prone: head held up for prolonged periods. No grasp reflex

5 months Holds head steady. Goes for objects and gets them. Objects taken to mouth

6 months Transfers objects from one hand to the other. Pulls self up to sit and sits erect with supports. Rolls over prone to supine. Palmar grasp of cube hand to hand eye coordination

9–10 months Wiggles and crawls. Sits unsupported. Picks up objects with pincer grasp

1 year Stands holding furniture. Stands alone for a second or two, then collapses with a bump

18 months Can walk alone. Picks up toy without falling over. Gets up/down stairs holding onto rail. Begins to jump with both feet. Can build a tower of 3 or 4 cubes and throw a ball

2 years Able to run. Walks up and down stairs 2 feet per step. Builds tower of 6 cubes

3 years Goes up stairs 1-foot per step and downstairs 2 feet per step. Copies circle, imitates hand motions and draws man on request. Builds tower of 9 cubes

4 years Goes down stairs one foot per step, skips on one foot. Imitates gate with cubes, copies a cross

5 years Skips on both feet and hops. Draws a man and copies an hexagonal based pyramid using graphing paper. Gives age

6 years Copies a diamond. Knows right from left and number of fingers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_development_stages

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Importance of physical activity for the developing child

• Physical activity is important to many aspects of child health and development.

• In young children, lack of physical activity is a risk factor for many health problems such as :

– high blood pressure, – weight gain, – excess body fat, – bad cholesterol, – respiratory difficulties, – cardiovascular diseases and – bone health problems.

• Moreover, the health benefits of physical activity extend well beyond physical health, e.g.

– having a positive impact on the domains of motor skills, – psychological well-being, – cognitive development, – social competence and – emotional maturity

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Statistics

• According to the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), only 36% of 2 to 3-year-olds and 44% of 4 to 5-year-olds engage in unorganized sport and physical activity each week.

• Alarming trends in childhood obesity among preschool children have refocused attention on the importance of physical activity in this age group. In Canada, national data show that 15% of 2 to 5-year-olds are overweight and 6.3% are obese.

2-3 yr. old 4-5 yr. old0%

10%20%30%40%50%

36%44%

Children engaged in physical activity/week

http://www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/parenting_2011-04.pdf

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Impact that families and the community can have on children’s health and physical activity

• The creation of strong links to opportunities for physical activity both at home and in communities is fundamental to developing active lifestyles for families and children.

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Impact that families and the community can have on children’s health and physical activity

• They control the exposure to physical activity opportunities; they act as role models; and parents can use specific parenting practices, such as rules on television viewing.

• Young children need parents’ and other adults’ support in accessing environments in which to be physically active.

• Parents should model healthy physical activity behaviors by being active themselves, and by interacting with their children in physical activities such as bike riding, walking and active play.

• Preschools, kindergartens and childcare centres should be encouraged to provide children with ample time outdoors on a daily basis, and to provide children with opportunities to be active indoors if the weather prevents them from going outside.

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Impact that families and the community can have on children’s health and physical activity

• Supporting active play Families, childcare centres, schools and communities need to provide safe, supervised yet unstructured play spaces for active play, where children and their peers can engage in physical activity.

• This will increase :– physical activity levels and– promote imagination, social interaction

and – the ability to learn and practise skills

independently.

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Examples of physical activities

1. Endurance• Scootering, in-line skating, skateboarding• Swimming, skating, dancing, tennis, martial arts • Hiking, jogging, skipping, playing tag, cycling, dodge ball • Hockey, football, soccer, basketball • Skiing, lacrosse, wall climbing

2. Flexibility • Active play on a playground • Digging in the garden or at the beach, raking leaves• Gymnastics, dancing, wall climbing • Yoga, skipping, stretching routines

3. Strength• Lifting and carrying things like groceries, garbage and garden waste • Raking leaves, climbing stairs • Gymnastics, doing sit-ups and push-ups • Playground activities: monkey bars, climbing ladders, scaling poles • Calisthenics using their own body weight as resistance or

supervised weight training exercises using tubing, bands and hand weights.

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Healthy eating practices that families can implement at home

• By teaching your children healthy eating habits, and modeling these behaviors in yourself, you can help your children maintain a healthy weight and normal growth.

• Include serving of : – Low fat or nonfat dairy products – Poultry without skin – Lean cuts of meats – Whole grain breads and cereals – Healthy snacks such as fruit and veggies • Reduce the amount of sugar sweetened drinks and salt• Leave the unhealthy choices like chips, soda, and juice at the grocery

store. Serve water with meals.• Encourage your children to eat slowly. • Involve your children in food shopping and preparing meals• Make as nutritious snacks as possible, without depriving your children of

occasional chips or cookies.• Discourage eating meals or snacks while watching TV to avoid overeating.• Encourage your children to drink more water.• Try not to use food to punish or reward your children.• Make sure your children's meals outside the home are balanced.• Also, select healthier items when dining at restaurants. • Pay attention to portion size and ingredients

http://www.webmd.com/children/guide/kids-healthy-eating-habits?print=true

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Local resources for families to make healthy lifestyle choices within community

• Healthy Lifestyle Community Resources• Each community provides a variety of local resources to support living a healthy lifestyle. The organizations and

programs listed offer a variety of walking/running programs, groups and classes, local 5k walk/runs, physical activity classes, gardening classes and resources, farmers markets in your area, and a variety of resources to assist you in living a healthy lifestyle.

– YMCA– Athletic Footwear and Apparel Stores– Community Education Program– Parks and Recreation Department– Local Schools– Farmers Market– Gardening– Michigan State University Extension– Health Care Organizations/Hospitals– Local Health Departments

(Source : http://www.michigan.gov/healthymichigan/0,4675,7-216-33088-273066--,00.html)

• Other resources : – https://www.healthiergeneration.org/live_healthier/be_a_role_model/look_for_local_resources/– http://www.lakeviewclinic.com/graphics/community%20resource%20list.pdf– http://www.sjhsteps.com/parents/resources.html

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Source supporting relationship between regular physical activity and children’s health

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that - Children and Adolescents need three types of activity each week:

– Aerobic– Muscle-strengthening– Bone-strengthening

(http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/physactivity.htm)

• Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (CEECD) and the Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development (SKC-ECD) - identify and summarize the best scientific work on early childhood development(http://www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/parenting_2011-04.pdf)

• World Health Organization - Recommended levels of physical activity for children aged 5 - 17 years(http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_young_people/en/)

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Government Strategies & Investments

• Strategies, policies, and investments made by the U.S federal government toward increasing physical activity levels and developing guidelines recommending healthful amounts of physical activity among American children and youth.

• 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans – provide scientific evidence for the amounts and types of physical activities recommended for children and adults in order to

improve their health.

• Community Transformation Grant Program– supports programs that focus on community health and wellness, Including those that promote active living and healthy eating

• Federal Safe Routes to School Program – aims to empower states and communities to establish programs and projects that make actively commuting to school safe and

routine for children and youth.

• Let’s Move! – Its mission is to solve the problem of childhood obesity in the U.S. in a single generation.

• NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey– The NNYFS combines interviews and a battery of fitness tests designed to directly collect data on the fitness, physical activity

levels, and nutritional behaviors of U.S. children and youth between the ages of 3-15 years old.

• President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, & Nutrition (PCFSN) – With the vision, “All Americans lead healthy, active lives, it strives to educate and motivate all Americans to live healthy lifestyles,

including habitual physical activity and good nutrition.

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References

16Thank you !