So I was a little surprised to see contrarian writer Gina Kolata questioning the common belief that kids need exercise. In "How Much Exercise Do Children Need?", Kolata argues, as is her familiar refrain, that there is little clinical research supporting the conventional wisdom. Kolata raises these points:
- Research shows only small health improvements in some (not all) kids who exercise
- Kids don't get continuous exercise the way adults do. They exercise in spurts.
- There is no evidence that kids participate in their childhood sports in their adult lives. I.e. Soccer kids don't necessarily play adult league soccer.
- Active parents don't necessarily inspire activity in their kids. Adults often exercise away from home, so kids aren't exposed to exercise.
- The most physically active kids have close friends who are physically active.
- Kids are more likely to exercise when parents offer logistical support and help with daily living like making meals, driving to practices, etc.
- Half the kids drop out of sports programs by age 12 because they don't enjoy them. This is probably because many programs are overbooked and kids do "far too much standing around".
Okay, so there's no clinical research showing that kids need exercise. Do we really need clinical research to tell us this? Kids run everywhere. They play all the time. And when they don't, they get overweight in epidemic proportions. At any age, it's human nature to exercise, clinically proven or not.
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