TEENS TODAY NEED MORE ACTIVITY

America’s teens today do not get enough exercise. The Center for Disease Control says that teens need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise daily. Unfortunately nearly 20% of teens in America today are considered to be clinically overweight or obese. Why is this? Teens today would rather spend time in front of a screen rather than getting much needed exercise. Health day news.com says that teens today have an average of 7 hours of “screen time” daily. This is compared to 1999 when teens spent about 3 hours a day of “screen time.”




Teens need more physical activity to avoid health problems in the future. Teens that are obese are extremely likely to become obese adults. This leads to many health problems such as: diabetes, cancers, and many cardiovascular diseases. Excessive time spent in front of a screen has its’ adverse effects. Research has shown that high levels of electronic media can lead to school problems, attention difficulties, sleep disorders, eating disorders, and obesity from a lack of physical activity. Screen time is considered any amount of time a person spends watching television, on a computer, or using any other kind of electronic media (video games). There are many other benefits to physical activity outside of the obvious obesity problems. Physical activity can help teens to: perform better in school, feel better about themselves, develop skills in sports, build strength and endurance, have more energy, sleep better, and physical activity is a wonderful to help deal with stress.



Are teens the only ones to blame? No, their parents are also responsible for the lack of their sons/daughters lack of physical activity. It is up to the parents to take responsibility and do what they can to help their children become as healthy as they can. The CDC recommends that children have 2 hours or less of screen time per day. This means that parents must do what they can to make their child’s room electronic free, encourage alternative activities to screen time, and become active themselves.



One hour of daily exercise may seem like a lot, but it actually a lot easier to achieve than many believe. All 60 minutes do not need to be done at one time, but can be separated into several portions of the day. Sports are a great way to become active and develop other skills such as leadership and teamwork. However not everyone wants to play a sport because of time commitments or other various reasons. There are many other ways to get the amount of physical activity that you need. Some of the more simple ideas for daily activity include: take a walk, dance, walk the dog, ride a bike, take the stairs, play ball in the back yard, wash cars, do yard work, go swimming, take classes such as yoga or aerobics, weight lifting, go to the local park, or go in-line skating.



How do you know if your exercise is getting the job done? The “talk-sing” test is a great way to measure how intense the exercise is. If you can talk while exercising, then you’re doing great! If you are to breathless to talk, then you can slow it down a little bit. If you can sing during exercise, then you need to kick up the intensity! Before beginning any exercise program there are many important tips to remember. Consult a doctor if you are new to exercise. If you are new to exercise, don’t kill yourself on the first day. Start with ten minute intervals, and slowly work your way up to your desired time. To avoid injuries, make sure to stretch and warm up for at least ten minutes before performing any exercise. It is just as important to have ten minutes of cool down and stretching after exercise to avoid soreness the next day. Make sure to consume a lot of water, especially after the workout to re-hydrate. Drink water, not sports drinks. The amount of sugar contained in sports drinks can make all the work you just did nearly worthless. Most importantly, with all kinds of exercise you may do: HAVE FUN WITH IT!



Teens today need to spend at least an hour a day doing some kind of physical activity or we will be looking at a future generation full of medical problems and insulin shots. Physical activity is not hard to fit into a daily routine and it is time that we begin to reverse the trend of teenage obesity in this country.

References
 
Center for Disease Control, Initials. (1999, November 7). Physical activity and health, adolescents. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/adoles.htm
 
Rauscher, M. (2008, January 7). Regular physical activity helps teens avoid obesity. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTON77734220080107