Physical Fitness and Wellness for Children

1
Chapter 4

• Physical Fitness and Wellness for Children

2
Chapter 4 Key Points

• Physical Activity and Physical Fitness are key
  elements in increasing years and quality of life
  - Healthy People 2010 (USDHHS, 2000)
• Defining Physical Fitness
• The capacity of the heart, blood vessels, lungs,
  and muscles to function at optimum efficiency
• The body's ability to function efficiently and
  effectively in work and leisure activities to be
  healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseases, and to
  meet emergency situations (Corbin, et al, 2001)

3
Chapter 4 Key Points

• Physical Fitness can be positively affected by
  quality physical education programs that provide
  children with competence, enjoyment and
  confidence
• Goal is for all children to attain positive level
  of health-related fitness

4
Health-Related Fitness Components

•  Muscular Strength and Endurance
• The amount of force a muscle can produce.
•  
• Muscular Endurance
• The muscles ability to produce that force for a
  period of time.  
• Flexibility
• The capacity of a joint to move through its
  potential range of motion
•  
• Cardiovascular Efficiency
• The bodys ability to undergo vigorous exercise
  for an extended period of time
•  
• Body Composition
• The amount of fat cells compared to lean body
  mass

5
Chapter 4 Key Points

• Surgeon Generals report (1996) shifted the
  emphasis physical fitness from strenuous,
  continuous exercise a few periods a week, to
  moderate physical activity on all or most days of
  the week for an accumulated time of at least 30
  min (preferably 60 minutes)
• New guidelines for childrens physical activity
• 30-60 minutes of age and developmentally
  appropriate physical activity on all or most days
  of the week
• Additional 60 minutes per day of active free play
  or other physical activity

6
The FIT Principle

• Frequency - physical activity most, preferably
  all, days of the week
•  
• Intensity - moderate to vigorous
•   
• Time - 60 minutes of cumulative physical activity
  a day

7
Chapter 4 Key Points

• Fitness Training Principal (FIT) for children
• Fun
• Intrinsic
• Motivation
• And Two Cs competence and confidence

8
Chapter 4 Key Points

• Research indicates that physical activity
  patterns in childhood and adolescence influences
  adult pattern
• Two recent models outline goals appropriate for
  children regarding physical activity
• Childrens Lifetime Physical Activity Model
  (Corbin Pangrazi)
• Physical Activity Pyramid (Physical Activity for
  Children Guidelines, NASPE, 1998)

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Chapter 4 Key Points

• NASPE Standard 3 and Standard 4 identify physical
  fitness goals
• Regarding physical fitness, the NASPE document
  advocates a focus at
• the early elementary level on positive
  participation in physical activities
• the upper elementary and beyond, on an awareness
  of importance of fitness concepts and development
  of skills and knowledge for regular participation
• Research indicates that the traditional approach
  to gains in fitness scores may have long term
  consequences such as lack of interest, motivation
  and skills needed for successful participation in
  later years

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Chapter 4 Key Points

• Role of Physical Education teachers
• Help children and their parents choose activities
  they enjoy to attain and maintain fitness and set
  realistic individual fitness goals
• Help children develop positive attitudes needed
  for active participation

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Chapter 4 Key Points

• Fitness test scores
• Purposes
• Ongoing screening
• To develop yearly plans
• To assist youngsters establish personal fitness
  goals/remedial programs
• Become meaningful to students if they are
  involved in the recording and analyzing of
  scores, and provided with guidance in setting
  personal goals
• Recommended that scores should NOT be recorded
  for children younger than 4th grade

12
Appropriate/Inappropriate Practices for Physical
Fitness Testing

• Appropriate Practice
• Teachers use fitness assessment as part of the
  ongoing process of helping children understand,
  enjoy, improve and/or maintain their physical
  fitness and well-being.
• Test results are shared privately with children
  and their parents as a tool for developing
  personal goals and strategies for maintaining and
  increasing the respective fitness parameters.
• As part of an ongoing program of physical
  education, children are physically prepared in
  each fitness component so they can safely
  complete the assessment.
•  

13
Appropriate/Inappropriate Practices for Physical
Fitness Testing (cont)

•  
• Inappropriate Practice
• Teachers administer physical fitness tests once
  or twice a year for the purpose of identifying
  children to receive awards or to meet a
  requirement of the school district or state
  department.
• Children complete physical fitness tests
  batteries without understanding why they are
  performing the tests or the relationship to their
  activity level and individual goals. Results are
  interpreted based on comparison with norms rather
  than in the terms of how they apply to children's
  future healthy and well-being
• Individual scores are publicly posted,
  comparisons are made between students' scores,
  and/or grades are based on fitness scores.
• Children are required to take fitness tests
  without adequate conditioning.

14
Promoting Health-Related Fitness in Elementary
Children

• Teachers can help children develop the skills and
  positive
• attitudes needed for active participation in
  physical
• activity and assist them in attaining a healthy
  level of fitness
• by
• Providing a quality program of physical education
  
• Promoting additional in-school and out-of-school
  physically active and health-enhancing activities
  
• Working cooperatively with classroom teachers and
  parents

15
Chapter 4 Key Points

• Physical fitness is only one part of the broader
  wellness picture which encompasses emotional,
  mental, spiritual, interpersonal/social, and
  emotional well-being
• Suggested learning experiences in wellness for
  elementary children include nutrition, drug
  alcohol, tobacco abuse, personal safety, personal
  and social responsibility, and mental/emotional
  health
• Physical education and wellness are intricately
  woven together in the quest for optimal health
  and well-being for all children

16
Wellness Concepts in Physical Education

• Nutrition
• Personal safety
• Bicycle
• Auto
• Water
• Fire
• Drug, alcohol and tobacco use and abuse
• Personal and social responsibility
• Mental and emotional health