The majority of people spend most of their days sitting behind their office desks while doing whatever it is they do for a living. The same goes for young kids. They spend most of their day sitting down in a classroom setting, or watching TV at home. Now the question is, how much do your kids sit during a normal day? Well, let’s add it up!
According to a renowned pediatric physical therapist based downtown, the average kid spends less than 10 minutes commuting to school, or longer for those in large metropolitan areas. This means on average, your kids spend approximately 30 to 60 minutes each day just sitting in a vehicle. Add that to the typical six or seven hours in a class and we are at eight straight hours of sitting!
How can you undo the harms of sitting down all day long?
Spending almost the whole day sitting down is all wrong where your kid’s health is concerned. In the best of scenarios, your kids should spend more time on their feet playing than sitting down, and for a good reason. Studies have shown that sedentary behavior leads to a lot of health issues, including cancer, cardiovascular issues, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and much more. Even where the kids do exercise, the negatives of sitting still most the day still outweigh the positives of the daily workouts.
So if having the kid exercise on a regular basis can’t help him or her combat his or her sedentary learning lives, what can a parent or a pediatric physical therapy specialist in CT do? While it might seem like a losing battle where sitting is concerned, there are a number of exercises that can be done to tip the scale back in a kid’s favor. Here’s how:
Get the kids up and moving once in a while
While standing behind the desk has its own benefits, at least it gets the kid out of the seat, it still does not truly undo the harms of sitting almost the whole day. Teachers are encouraged to have the kids out of their seats after a few classes and sent out to the playground for a work out or physical exercises that will keep them running and doing what the kids loves doing which is jumping up and down doing their thing.
Simply put, encourage the kids to get out of their seat and up on their feet playing once in a while. If due to one reason or another playing in the field is out of question, then here are some three discreet ways a kid can still exercise while still in his or her desk, or even while watching the TV.
• Shoulder shrug: Encourage the child to raise both shoulders in a shrug. Have him or her to hold for approximately five seconds or so before relaxing the muscles. This should be repeated 15 or so times.
• Handshake: Encourage the kid to clasp his or her hands together with one thumb pointing upward while the other is pointing downward, and then pull. This position should be held for ten to twenty seconds, and then released and repeated.
• Leg raises: Encourage the kids to straighten their legs under their desk and hold for five to ten seconds. Have the child to lower his or her legs without letting the feet touch the ground and before raising them once again. If a particular kid does not want to lift her or his legs all at once then have him or her to alternate them. This routine should be repeated 15 times for the best results.
