7 Amazing Benefits of Exercise for Toddlers

24/11/2022
Live Well Diary Team
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benefits of exercise for toddlers

The benefits of exercise for toddlers and kids are huge.

It is good to prioritise the early physical fitness and wellness of children, given its vital role in their growth and development.

It is widely established through research that children who make physical activity a habit have a significantly higher chance of achieving positive health outcomes as they grow older.

Here are the benefits of exercise for toddlers:

1) Active children will often sleep better.

Melatonin and serotonin are critical hormones of the central nervous system that are released by the body when someone remains active. This has a noticeable impact on healthy sleeping patterns, demonstrating how vital these hormones are for physical well-being. Melatonin is often called the sleep hormone.

To promote better sleep in toddlers and young kids, it’s recommended to incorporate physical activity into daytime routines. This helps the body naturally wind down and relax come bedtime.

2) Cultivates your child’s interpersonal skills, resulting in improved confidence and a more positive self-image.

Exercising can help boost a child’s confidence. When you exercise with your child, they feel good about themselves and their abilities.

In terms of enhancing self-esteem, your child will be able to improve when they can accomplish something.

Physical activities can improve the social skills of your child as they get involved in exercises with other children of their age group.

Additionally, activities like playing sports help children to be able to work together on a team. Empowering young kids to work effectively as a unified team sets the foundation for a brighter future by equipping them with essential collaborative skills necessary for academic and professional environments.

Children can develop important values by engaging in sports, such as learning how to be gracious in defeat and what it means to be a supportive teammate or fair competitor.

3) Exercise encourages healthy habits

Exercise also encourages healthy habits like eating well and sleeping well.

When children are active, they may eat better. Active children are more likely to eat a healthy diet because their bodies burn up the calories from food.

Benefits of exercise for toddlers

4) Improved Physical Strength and Development

Exercise strengthens the heart and lungs.

The body’s muscles need oxygen to grow when exercising. It helps muscles get more robust by providing more oxygen. This allows the body to develop more healthy cells to fight infections and diseases.

Being physically active helps a child’s brain develop properly. Exercise helps increase blood flow to the child’s brain. This can help with memory skills, concentration and focus.

5) By promoting self-discipline in children, exercise serves as an advantage to their health and development.

Engaging in exercises promotes the development of diverse competencies. These include the capacity to sustain attention on a particular undertaking without succumbing to distractions from external sources, maintaining focus, composure and stillness for prolonged periods and enhancing learning engagement in academic settings.

Also, exercise can help your toddler learn to be disciplined, especially if they’re new to the activity. It can also teach them to follow instructions and stick with something even when bored or tired.

6) Another significant benefit of exercise for toddlers is improved coordination and balance.

Exercise improves gross motor skills such as running and jumping.
When kids are young, their gross motor skills are the large muscle movements that help them to move around and explore their environment.

As toddlers age, these skills evolve into fine motor skills, allowing them to perform tasks like colouring or writing with a pencil. Exercise helps children develop gross and fine motor skills as they age.

The more toddlers move, the better their coordination gets. When they’re older, this will improve their balance and help them perform physical tasks like riding bikes and skating.

toddlers running

7) Toddlers will feel happier when they are physically active.

Exercise releases endorphins and other hormones.

A fascinating aspect of the human body is its ability to produce endorphins, which are hormones responsible for promoting feelings of happiness. These remarkable chemicals also help us manage stress levels more effectively, resulting in a calmer state of mind.

Conclusion

We hope that you can now see the benefits of exercise for toddlers.

Before starting your child on an exercise program, ensure they are healthy enough and have been cleared by a doctor.

Exercise is suitable for toddlers because it will help them be more active and improve their strength. Also, it’ll help with your toddler’s hand-eye coordination.

So get that ball out now and let the fun begin.

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References

[1] Loprinzi, P. D., Lee, I. M., Andersen, R. E., Crespo, C. J., & Smit, E. (2015). Association of Concurrent Healthy Eating and Regular Physical Activity With Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in U.S. Youth. American journal of health promotion : AJHP, 30(1), 2–8. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.140213-QUAN-71

[2] CDC (2019). Physical Activity Facts. [online] CDC. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm.

Images Used

Photo by Kampus Production: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-curly-haired-boy-kicking-the-soccer-ball-8914022

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova: https://www.pexels.com/photo/focused-little-cyclist-girl-riding-runbike-at-countryside-3932844/

Photo by RUN 4 FFWPU: https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-running-on-pathway-2539281/

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