Posts Tagged ‘children’s health’
Attempting to keep up with an active five-year-old can feel tiring at times. If you’ve been around an active child of this age, or if you have one of your own, you may have found yourself hoping that the kid would just “veg out” for a little while. But, new research is recognizing the long-term health benefits of this whirlwind of activity. In fact, according to a new University of Iowa study, instead of making an effort to slow these little ones down, five-year-olds should be encouraged to be as active as possible. Why? “Because it pays off as they grow older,” said Kathleen Janz, lead author of the study and professor of health and sport studies in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Being active at age five helps kids to avoid excess fat as they get older even if they don’t stay as active later in childhood. “We call this effect ‘banking’ because the kids benefit later on, similar to having a savings account at a bank. The protective effect is independent of what happens in between,” Janz went on to say.
The UI team tested the body fat and activity level of 333 kids at ages five, eight and eleven using a special scanner that accurately measures bone, fat and muscle tissue, and an accelerometer that measures movement every minute. Rather than depending on kids or parents to track minutes of exercise, the kids wore accelerometers to record their activity level for up to five days.
Even when controlling for their accumulated level of activity, the study (published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine) indicated that kids who are active at age five end up with less fat at age eight and eleven. The average five-year-old in the study got thirty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per day. For every ten minutes on top of that, kids had one-third of a pound less fat tissue at ages eight and eleven.
Although further investigation is necessary to determine what happens to the active kids’ bodies that keeps them in better shape down the road, Janz said that it could be that the active 5-year-olds didn’t develop as many fat cells, improved their insulin response, or that something occurred metabolically that provided some protection even as they became less active.
Nonetheless, as exciting as this study is, weight moderation is not the only benefit of early exercise. As a chiropractor I have observed in my own practice that active kids don’t have as many ordinary childhood health issues, like catching colds and the flu. chiropractic care is, of course, particularly beneficial in helping kids to stay healthier. But, in addition, the stimulation to the brain that takes place during activities, especially those that necessitate “cross pattern” motor movements of the larger muscles, i.e., right hand/left leg and left hand/right leg, such as crawling, running, climbing, and skipping, also boosts the autoimmune system and keeps kids healthier.
Too many children today are overweight and unhealthy. Though part of the problem is an inappropriate diet, inactivity is also a major contributing factor. If you have a five-year-old who chooses to watch television or play video games rather than participating in more active play, help your child to get up and get moving into healthier activities. Moderate to vigorous activity will not only benefit your child now, but will assist in building a healthier future. You can bank on it!
Today’s moms and dads are more concerned than ever about the adverse effects pharmaceuticals have on their children. Parents want to know if there is anything else that they can do for their child than to give them pharmaceuticals.
Parents are disinclined to just mask symptoms with pharmaceuticals, and they are concerned about side effects. Their goal to attain a state of true health for their children has encouraged moms and dads to find health care opportunities that assist their child’s own inherent ability to be healthy.
Chiropractic care is that option. All children are healthier with 100% nerve function. The immune system is controlled by the nervous system. When it is operating at its peak, children stay healthier. As far as a child’s health is concerned, “the best offense is a good defense.” Everyday, children are exposed to massive amounts of airborn, food-born, and contact bacteria. So many bacteria, in fact, that it would be unfeasible to immunize them against them all. Your Orlando Chiropractor is very familiar with colds, sore throats, ear infections, fevers, colic, asthma, tonsillitis, allergies, bed-wetting, infections, pains, falls, stomach-aches, and the hundred and one little (and big) things children go through as they grow up.
A chiropractor is committed to helping keep your child healthy and strong so that the complaints that appear to be an unavoidable part of childhood, either won’t affect your child as intensely or won’t affect them at all. chiropractic adjustments aids in removing interferences to the innate healing power that runs through your child’s body. When that power is released, the healing results that take place quite frequently are profound.
Furthermore, a child is lesslikely to be injured at play or in sports when his or her spine is in alignment. In addition, children who are brought in regularly for chiropractic care don’t seem to experience as many “growing pains” as other children.
Each day at your Orlnado Chiropractor we have happily noticed that more and more parents are bringing their children to our clinic to help to take care of the questions and concerns they have about their children’s health. All children are deserve the right to manifest their fullest potential. Chiropractic care for children at your Orlando Chiropractor is safe, gentle and effective.