If children are living a sedentary lifestyle during the week, there is actual physical danger in trying to do too much physical activity only on the weekends. We shouldn't take that to mean don't do anything on the weekend if you haven't done anything all week. However, maybe it's better if we see it as a sign that we should increase our activity during the week. That way, it wouldn't be so hard on our bodies to enjoy a weekend of all-out play.
Dr. Meg Jordan, Ph.D., RN, notes that we are now faced with obesity rates that have increased from about six to 18 percent just since the mid-seventies in children between the ages of 611.
According to David Katz, MD, MPH, the director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center, babies born today may have a shorter lifespan than even their parents. Why? It is noted that the combination of non-nutritious and high-calorie diets, less physical education budget for schools, and too much time in front of devices results in our children being more sedentary than any generation thus far.
Most parents and fitness educators feel strongly about this and try to encourage more physical activity, but at the same time, some of us might be waiting until the weekend to make up for an inactive week as well. Not a good habit to teach our children, and sometimes it's difficult with the job schedules we keep to do this differently.
We then end up with Weekend Warrior Syndrome, which encompasses all the chronic exercise overuse injuries, such as shin splints and sore muscles, fatigue, and dehydration. These are usually the result of diving into a strenuous workout without a week-long training and warm-up time. The bigger problem with this is that when children experience this syndrome, it can have lifelong hampering effects on their involvement in sports.
Many growth plate injuries are the result of an acute event like a fall or blow, chronic injuries can also be caused by overuse of muscles. In a large study on growth-plate injuries in children, it was discovered that most of them were from a fall, maybe, while running, playing on furniture, or falling on a playground. Competitive sports such as track, basketball, and football made up about one-third of the injuries. Recreational activities, including sledding, skiing, and skateboarding, made up about one-fifth, and car and ATV accidents were actually a very small percentage.
It looks as though if we want to decrease injuries in children at play, we should give consideration to their activity level during the week. That's not to say that all accidents happen on the weekends, but it does give us food for thought when considering that on the weekends.
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