Youth Fitness For Parents: How does physical literacy help the sedentary child?
Alarmingly, in 2023 most kids in the US rely on sports to get their physical activity. In most cases this is their only physical activity.
According to statistics, around 70% of children between 6 and 12 years old participate in sports in the US. However, this percentage drops to around 20% for kids aged 12 to 17. This means that a significant number of kids, around 80%, are not playing sports, which coincidentally is the same percentage of kids identified by the CDC as not getting enough daily exercise.
But what if your child has lost interest in sports or was never interested in them in the first place? Is physical literacy still essential for them? Absolutely!
What does the research show? Physical literacy includes fundamental movement skills like running, jumping, carrying, rolling and throwing, all of which can be applied to things like dance, gymnastics, obstacle course racing and any other physical pursuit we can imagine. The research shows that physically literate kids are more likely to seek out movement rich opportunities like these.
Because physically literate kids seek out opportunities to move, they improve their overall health and fitness, increase self-confidence, develop social skills, and discover new challenges they can enjoy and continue throughout their lives.
It is important for parents to be aware that physically literate kids are not only more active, but that active kids generally have higher academic performance, school attendance, and cognitive function.
All of this demonstrates that there are a multitude of benefits to developing physical literacy beyond sports. By helping kids develop fundamental movement skills, we can help them to lead healthy activity rich lives, vastly improving their health, happiness, and overall well-being.
Next we will take a peek at the research regarding physical literacy interventions and the more sedentary child, including how helping a child to become more physically literate will actually increase their activity levels.
Want to help your kids be more active at home? Check out The Brand X Method® Home Workouts.
