Physical activity is necessary to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Mainly guidelines

Children who participate in sports are less likely to be overweight or obese, have higher self-esteem on average, and are generally more invested in their academics. Sports are oftentimes seen as a gateway to academic opportunity, particularly for kids with fewer resources. While this logic is inherently problematic, it is true that high schoolers who were involved with organized sport were more likely to be enrolled in college later on. Youth sports also give children a place to develop socially by teaching them about teamwork, leadership, and compromise. Team sports in particular can provide children with a sense of belonging to a group, and therefore increase their self-esteem and improve their social competence. There are dozens of reasons why youth sport is important and beneficial to a child’s development, and with millions of participants each year in the United States alone, it doesn’t look like youth sports will be going anywhere anytime

Many people argue that competitive sports raise numerous amounts of pressure on the youth making them distracted from things such as their education and because it can cause severe injuries, but some people argue that youth should play competitive sports because it teaches major life lessons that can help with many different aspects of their future such as college, getting a job, and many more. Playing competitive sports also improves your physical strength, another physical aspect of playing competitive sports is decreasing your chance of being obese or having disease. If you don't prefer to play competitive sports there are alternative options such as biking or walking to school. In an HT Health article “Sports Seen As Key Weapon in Fighting Teen Obesity” it says that in a study with 1,700 kids, ten percent walked or biked to school 3 ½ days a week,, in the study they found that biking or walking to school lowered the risk of being obese by 33%. I argue that kids should play competitive sports because of the important life skills taught through these sports and the physical benefit of playing sports. In this paper I will explain how communication, time management, and lowering the risk of being obese; supports my claim, “Kids should play competitive sports”

The oldest group were much less likely than younger people to be exercising to keep fit, relieve stress/relax, keep in shape or lose weight but instead more likely to be taking part for enjoyment and social aspects or because it helps with an injury/disability

During childhood our body and mind changes very fast. I believe that nowadays parents focus more on the brain developement of their children than their physical activity. When I was a little girl - over 20 years ago - we spent most of our time outside playing, running and enjoying fresh air and being in movement. Physical activity of children can secure them health and well being in their adulthood as well as teach them a lot of very importants aspects like social relations and behaviors in different situations.

Physical activity is an integral part of health and well being in children.Our bodies also require physical activity in order to be healthy.Understanding and supporting physical activity, will help children have the right foundation for a healthy and happy life.Positive experiences with physical activity at a young age promotes the growth if strong bones and muscles, help to develop good posture and balance, obesity risk and chronic disease risk infection are reduced.

Many youth sports are part of community organized after-school programs. There are many different types of these programs such as T-Ball, Little League Baseball, Pop Warner Football, soccer, martial arts, cheerleading, and so forth. “There are over 40 million youth participating in organized sports, and both girls and boys have a dazzling array of choices and can play a sport year round” (Le Menestrel and Perkins 13). Communities use youth sport as an outlet to encourage social activity, a healthy lifestyle, and skill development for that particular sport. For example, “Participation in organized sports can provide opportunities for youth to learn more about specific skills and exercises associated with a particular sport” (Perkins and Noam 76). These programs offer opportunities to boost skills and connect positively with others. Without these activities, parents will have to find another developmental setting that may not give similar or beneficial outcomes as those of organized youth sport. Studies found that, “Sports

Participation in youth sports in the United States is on the rise. “Organized youth sports are highly popular for youth and their families, with approximately 45 million children and adolescent participants in the US” (Merkel, 2013). There are many benefits for children that can be attributed to sports such as: physical activity, learning motor skills, sense of belonging, stress relief, and many more. With childhood obesity on the rise recreational sports has never been needed more than it is today. “Over the past three decades, the incidence of obesity in children has tripled, with one of every three children being affected” (Merkel, 2013). Obesity has many long-term health problems related to it such as: diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure cancer, asthma. We can attribute this health problem to changes in our society over like increased technology, increased crime rates, fast food and isolated suburban neighborhoods. Sports and other physical activities are needed to keep children from causing further damaged to their future.

Physical activity also has benefits for children's social and emotional development and cognitive development. These benefits include being part of a team and making friends through group sports, which have a major impact on social and emotional development. The effect of obesity on children is closely linked to many bad health habits such as diet, smoking and drug use which in turn can affect a child's academic performance (Goran et al., 1999). Physical activity, if encouraged at a young age, can reduce the likelihood of children developing these behaviours and focus on their academic performance and cognitive development. As children in this age range are in their fundamental development stage, it is important that educators and parents alike, teach children about the importance of physical activity at a young age in order to prevent health and social well-being problems in their adult years.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Increasing physical activity among youth is an essential component of the broad strategy needed to curb the obesity epidemic” (CITATION). The AAP goes on to encourage different forms of physical activity, whether it’s joining a sport, taking part in extracurricular activities or even participating in gym class and to start this routine from childhood. When experimenting to see the impact that sports and extracurriculars made on a person’s health, they stated, “Our findings supports previous research demonstrating sports were related to substantially lower risk of both overweight/obesity and obesity” (CITATION). While other factors play a big part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, childhood is a crucial point because that’s when the body is nurturing, which is why there should be more budgeting towards helping those who are unable to

Regular physical activity is beneficial to health in many ways(“Facts”). A comprehensive study and analysis of existing research found that leisure time physical activity is associated with reduced risk of 13 types of cancers(“Facts”).Physical activity will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. Accordingly regular physical activity impacts health in many ways.

There could be other explanations for these findings; however, athletic competition serves as an excellent training activity for individuals who are already highly motivated to succeed. Youth athletes have a greater connection and involvement in the community, many even give back by volunteering their time to be coaches as adults. By participating in sports, youths are more likely to make friends, better able to acquire emotional control, learn the value of team work, and exhibit initiative, all of which are social skills that can contribute to a better community. There is no question that providing opportunities for youth to play a sport provides community benefit; if for no other reason, than idle time can be filled with activities that are healthy and

With the level of activity rising, a number health benefits due to sports also rise. If students participate in sixty minutes of “moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity every day”, they will lower the risk of obesity. According to the Australian government, “... [A]bout 40% of teens who didn’t play sports were overweight or obese compared with 20% of teens who played… sports…” (“Sport and Children”).Youth engaged in sports are less likely to have unwanted teen pregnancies and become a victim to suicide or sexual harassment (“Psychological and Social Benefits of Playing True Sport”). The cardiovascular system is strengthened while the body is receiving a cardio workout due to the sports activity. Because their heart is strengthened,

Physical activity is essential for children; therefore sport participation has many physical benefits for youths (Willox, 1994). In the United States there is a very unhealthy trend of physically unfit children going on. According to a recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health seven out of ten kids in our nation are out of shape and the incidence of obesity has increased by more than 50 percent among America's children and teen since 1976 and continues to grow at a staggering rate (Metzel & Shookhoff, 2006). When children participate in sports activities they get some of the exercise they need to improve their quality of life and can help prevent children from becoming obese. Physical activity regulates obesity because it increases energy expenditure, suppresses appetite, increases metabolic rate, and increases lean body mass (Willox, 1994). Even though regular physical sport activity has been shown to improve physical fitness, it can also help in preventing many different health problems down the line that youths who participate in sports are more likely not to develop than youths who do not participate in sports. Women who participated in organized sport and fitness programs as

High school sports also has a benefit to an athlete's physical health. Today’s teens are exposed to a great amount of entertainment avenues such as television, video games, and other media devices. These things allow teens to be lazy. Young people generally get less physical activity as they get older. By being physically active it can help prevent obesity. The experience of sports, exercise, and kinesthetic activities helps boost teens’ bodies. Involvement in sporting activities keeps teens moving and and keeps them engaged physically which is vital for their overall health and

In today’s society children are increasingly becoming less active. Lack of physical activity in childhood leads to obesity, can increase one’s risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, and poor health status. Physical inactivity also increases one’s risk for dying prematurely, dying of heart disease, and colon cancer. Technology and video games have become a major factor in this and have seemed to take over and control lives of many children. Less children are involved with sports and few play outside. The lack of physical activity as a child, can pay huge dividends in the child’s health, into his/her adulthood.