More Active Play Equals Better Thinking Skills For Kids

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon

Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)

Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

More Active Play Equals Better Thinking Skills For Kids

Dr Ansgar, 48, a dentist by profession, had sent me a very interesting article which is good for the parents to be aware so that they give their child the best. It is on allowing children to be active. The article states that kids who are active have better-thinking skills. Both Dr Ansgar and I knew this truth, a long time ago, using our own experience. It affirms only what both of us think. We have a firm conviction and both of us have been active throughout our lives as well.

In fact, it is sad to say, that many parents are very nervous about allowing their kids to be active. They make them desk-bound instead. My relation, Raj, who was doing his PSLE and he was not that active, at first. Through my wife's influence, he became active. The mother of the boy was worried whether he could do well in PSLE by being more active. I told the mother that at least once a week of a long activity would definitely help the child to do better in studies.

The mother was convinced and she allowed the son to come for our Young Champions' Programme once a week. Instead of scoring a range of 210 to 230, the boy scored 245, instead and the mother could not believe this. The boy is now in an independent school and from an inactive person, he, in fact, qualified himself to be in the National Schools' Cross Country Team, where only 8 runners only could enter the race per school. 

Raj told me that he felt more alert in class and was able to pay attention to. In the past, he told me that he felt tired all the time. 

Having said that, I hope that you will enjoy reading this article being written by Alison Bruzek and hope that many families would be not nervous enough to allow their children to actively participate in an activity which their body is longing for.

by Alison Bruzek

September 29, 2014 2:12 PM ET

Good for bodies and good for brains, the scientists say.

iStockphoto 
 

As schools cut down on physical education and recess, kids are spending more time than ever on a desk. And while nerdy second-graders like I didn't ever consider arguing for more gym, there's increasing evidence that being active helps not just children's waistlines but their brains.

Shots - Health News

To Get Kids Exercising, Schools Are Becoming Creative

"If you consider the anthropology of humankind, we were designed to move," Charles Hillman, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tells Shots.

Shots - Health News

Why Exercise May Do A Teenage Mind Good

Hillman and colleagues have added more evidence as to how activity helps kids. His study, published Monday in Pediatrics, shows 7- to 9-year-old children who run around and play like, well, children, for at least 70 minutes a day show improved thinking skills, particularly in multitasking, compared to children who aren't as active.

The researchers looked at a nine-month after-school program, called Fitness Improves Thinking in Kids (FITKids) at the University of Illinois. The 109 students met after school nearly every day for a snack and a quick lesson on fitness and nutrition. Most importantly, the children spent 70 minutes running around and playing tag, soccer, jump rope and other games. The focus was not on competition, but playing like kids normally do.

i

Brain activity during the multitasking test for active kids (left) and non-active kids (right). Red indicates more activity, blue indicates less.

Courtesy of Charles Hillman 

 

"Kids tend to move and get their exercise intermittently," says Hillman. "They don't go out and run four miles" like an adult might."

In one multitasking test, children were shown a character on the screen and indicated with a thumb press whether the character was a certain colour and a certain shape. The kids who had participated in FITKids were significantly faster and more accurate at identifying the colour and shape than children who weren't exercising.

Scans of the FITKids children's brains showed increased brain activity during the task, in a network known to correspond to paying attention. Interestingly, the changes in brain activity correlated with the amount of time kids spent in FITKids. The more times they attended, the greater the change.

The researchers also looked at the children's ability to selectively focus attention and resist distraction, but did not find as strong an association with physical activity.

Shots - Health News

To Make Children Healthier, A Doctor Prescribes A Trip To The Park

Hillman says the significant effects resulted from only small changes to the kids' activity. "We're not taking them from low-fit to high-fit," he says. "We're taking them from low-fit to slightly-less low-fit." In fact, the overall change in fitness was only about 6 percent.
Other scientists say this is yet more evidence that physical activity improves school performance. "It might actually help," says Catherine Davis, a professor of pediatrics at Georgia Regents University. "I think that parents need to go to the educators and say, 'Why is my child sitting down for six hours a day when he's a 7-year-old boy and he needs to move?'




Note:

By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.