The physical activity, the best tool to prevent the obesidadSolo 36.4% of the child population Spanish for at least an hour of exercise daily”The sport has no place that it should occupy, it must be a matter of State”
9:00 hours of the morning. is any school of the Spanish geography. Cars parked in double row piled up in front of the access to the centre while the children are asleep they drag their bags to the inside to start their school day.
Among speakers, bad smoke and screams. So begin many school days. The voices and laughter that flooded the streets to start a new tomorrow have been transformed into steps of a zebra crossed with dozens of vehicles that run and for parents who yell for their children to arrive to class before the bell rings.
Recent investigations have shown a worrying decline in the number of students who use active transport to travel to school, in several developed countries the figures fell from 43% in 1969 to 13% in 2001. From the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) are determined to change this sad picture and this Tuesday have presented “Walking to school”, a model to innovate in the health of the little ones and the care of the environment.
walking to the school or institute is a truly affordable, practical and sustainable benefits to society beyond that for health reasons. It is an opportunity to foster sustainability, and enrich family relationships and the environment of the child. Although scientific evidence is still quite limited, due to the paucity of studies and methodological difficulties that continue to deepen in this matter, the walk to school brings with it many advantages for young people and to the world that one day will inherit it from their parents.
Effects on the health of the school children
Walk to school offers many benefits to the health of children, it is an opportunity to promote the environmental sustainability and enrich personal relationships. Walk a kilometer and back to the center where it develops its school day involves carrying out two-thirds of the physical activity the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that for small.
“The heart of the people who make physical activity, such as brisk walking, works best and increases the physical condition cardiorespiratory, that is the ability that a person has to make an effort to maintain, and that determines the ability of our system cardiorespiratorio to carry the oxygen from the air to the muscles. And this is an indication of a fundamental health”, says Julio Álvarez Pitti, a member of physical activity of the Committee for the Promotion of the Health of the ASP.
Among all the other physical benefits that it brings to the health of children and adolescents also found a decrease in blood pressure, an increase in the values of the good fats present in the blood and a reinforcement of the column. The coordination and agility of the smaller, basic components of the physical condition of the same, also are strengthened in this particular aspect.
it Also has other benefits a cognitive level and mental health . “It has been shown that young people who walk to school get better grades than those who do not. Children who practice fast walking on their respective paths to class, they have a better ability to focus, and increased memory. All of this translates into better school performance”, apostille Alvarez.
According to the expert, a school that goes only to the college realizes that it can do many more things than I thought and it develops self-confidence . The thing is not there. The list of the advantages of this practice to the smaller house is complete with a lower risk of depression, a decrease in the levels of anxiety and stress, and an increase in confidence in themselves.
A collaborative project, a common goal
The childhood obesity and urban pollution are two of the major challenges faced by today our society . “The introduce in the agenda of school activities such as “Walk to school” will allow for the development of the environmental health school”, pointed out Juan Antonio Ortega, head of the Unit of Environmental Health.
The initiative is simple but requires the collaboration of the authorities, pediatricians, associations of parents and school councils to achieve achieve goals that has been marked. For this reason, since the ASP call for the participation of everyone in order to develop a guide to environmental action in school respond to the challenges and new concerns that exist around the health of the people and the environment on the part of all school communities.
a sedentary lifestyle is a problem have been exhausted, our cities and our neighborhoods. The seniors only have to take a look around to see how they moved the school and how they do it today with their grandchildren. “It is a great challenge, but the children deserve it. Involve a vaccine in a period of life we will become adults much healthier in the future,” concludes Ortega.
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