Introduction
Physical activity is a vital part of life. However, it is less frequent in the 21st century among children and busy adults than in previous decades. This is due to the rising demands of modern life, and its impact has percolated down to kids as well.
Adults are busy as bees throughout the day, with parents heaving a sigh of relief and respite only before bed. And children follow suit in their various academic pursuits, returning home from tuitions long after the evening sun and dusky fields have fallen asleep.
While physical activity among children is typically associated with sports and outdoor games, adolescents and teenagers may also enjoy going on walks, regularly practicing yoga, or running daily. Therefore, it is up to parents to squeeze out time from their children’s busy schedules and coax them to leave their devices for some outdoor activity.
As force does little good for smart and intuitive modern kids, it is ideal for explaining the role of physical activity in enhancing and fortifying mental health. Out of all its health benefits, physical activity is primarily known as a healthy and homely way of combating depression in children. Here’s a quick guide to understanding and explaining its role in keeping depression at bay.
Depression And Physical Activity
It is quite normal to feel sad from time to time or lose hope when faced with insurmountable challenges in life. Both kids and adults face it, though the latter are comparatively more mentally resilient. However, when this cycle of negative thoughts, sadness, and hopelessness continues for weeks and months, with no real cause or reason, then it may be a sign of depression.
Depression is a mood disorder that impacts both physical and mental well-being. A rising concern of nearly every country in the world, this mental condition is caused and triggered by various factors. Family history, brain abnormalities, comorbidity with other diseases, early childhood experiences, personality, environmental factors, and gender all play an important role in causing depression.
This mood disorder is typically associated with low mood, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, negative thoughts, poor appetite, change in weight and sleepiness, and more. Several recent studies have found physical activity and playing to be highly effective in combating it. Physical activity improves mood, develops positive emotions, enhances self-worth, and boosts human confidence and resilience. Here’s a quick guide to it.
Role Of Physical Activity In Preventing Depression
Lowers Stress Level
Physical activity helps lower stress hormone levels in your child’s body and releases muscle and mental tension. When kids engage in activities that make them laugh and have fun, their bodies release several endorphins that enhance their mood and promote positive emotions.
Improves Mood
Physical activity also improves mood in children by enhancing levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. These neurotransmitters are responsible for inducing a positive mood and keeping depression at bay. While being physically active, children engage in mindfulness and are not fazed by other anxieties.
Builds Confidence
Physical activity helps beat lifestyle diseases like obesity in kids and paves the path to a fit future. Its chief goal of getting kids active helps them develop confidence and self-esteem, thanks to a healthy and toned physique. This is the reason why adolescents are more likely to engage in physical activity with proper encouragement and mentoring. This is because parts of the brain responsible for socialization, future planning, and understanding consequences are developing rapidly in them.
Inculcates Resilience
Physical activity involves braving and persevering against all odds to emerge triumphant and improve performance. Be it in a sport, a game, or just a friendly competition, physical activity is responsible for teaching kids how to pick themselves up and dust things off after falling. This capacity for enduring curveballs and problems is known as resilience, which helps keep depression at bay.
Boosts Energy
Physical activity is responsible for boosting energy and stamina in kids. Here, energy refers to both physical and mental energy, as the latter is more easily depleted nowadays. Physical activity refreshes children’s minds, strengthens bones and muscles, and increases their stamina. As a result, children feel more energetic and active the more they play and engage in physical sports. The same logic applies to adolescents and adults as well. After spending most of the day in a sedentary manner, physical activities like walking, doing some light yoga, or gardening help drain all fatigue away while boosting energy levels.
Conclusion
Physical activity is not a magical solution to depression. It can combat mild depression on its own or be used as a part of daily activities to improve moderate and severe symptoms. Nobody knows which activity suits them better than their parents. Therefore, you must give this guide a try to understand and figure out which physical activity makes your kid tick. After that, keeping depression at bay will not seem as insurmountable a task.
References
The views expressed are that of the expert alone.
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