“Happy Prescription” for Sports Kids
The pace of study and life is getting faster and faster, interpersonal relationships are becoming more and more complex, and psychological pressure is increasing… If you want to be happy, let your children move. Come and see the five major benefits of exercise for children summarized by psychologists.
Improve depression and anxiety
Students often suffer from constant tension, worry, depression and other emotions due to heavy academic pressure, competition among classmates, and various examinations, which ultimately leads to low learning efficiency and affected performance. Exercise will stimulate the body to release dopamine, endorphins and other “happy substances”. These substances will make people feel happy, relaxed and joyful, and students will naturally get rid of tension and depression. Maintaining regular and regular exercise can promote the continuous secretion of dopamine and endorphins in the body, thereby maintaining a good emotional state. Therefore, exercise is the “happy prescription” for students’ mental health!
Improve learning efficiency
Exercise can not only improve students’ physical fitness, but also promote the optimization of brain structure and function. When we exercise, blood circulation in the brain is accelerated and metabolism is accelerated, which can more effectively remove metabolic waste from the body and maintain normal brain function. During exercise, the brain also releases norepinephrine, serotonin, brain-derived growth factors, etc. These neural substances help enhance the excitability and alertness of the brain, thereby improving attention, memory, and learning efficiency. Additionally, when we exercise, we get more activation of the right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for creative thinking and imagination.
Therefore, sports help stimulate our creativity and imagination and promote the development of innovative thinking. What’s even more surprising is that exercise can increase the capacity of the brain’s prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, which are important for improving concentration and long-term memory.
Cultivate strong will and quality
Students need to constantly overcome difficulties in sports, such as difficulty of movements, timidity, fear, physical laziness, etc. They gradually learn how to adjust their mentality, stimulate their potential, and pursue their goals persistently. This experience not only allowed them to experience the joy of success, but more importantly, cultivated their self-confidence and strong will.
The strong will and quality developed through exercise can be transferred to daily study and life. Students also undergo significant changes when faced with learning difficulties. They begin to face challenges more courageously and no longer give up easily or avoid problems. They will actively look for solutions to problems, work hard to overcome various obstacles in learning, and achieve self-transcendence and all-round development.
Treating mental and psychological illnesses
Exercise is recognized as a form of psychotherapy. Among students, many suffer from insomnia, anxiety and depression due to study pressure, poor social interaction or other setbacks. Long-term regular exercise can reduce or even alleviate these emotional problems. In addition, for children with ADHD, it is healthier to move.
If children with ADHD are allowed to participate in confrontation training such as fighting or boxing twice a week, their academic performance will improve and their concentration will also be improved. This may be due to the fact that during the training process of fighting and confrontation, the children’s attention has been continuously refined, and the concentration of attention has been improved during the refined training process.
Promote interpersonal communication
Sports provide a great social platform. Whether participating in team sports, working out in the gym, or running outdoors, people have the opportunity to meet new people and expand their social circles. In these occasions, people can exchange sports tips and share fitness experiences with each other, thereby enhancing mutual understanding and friendship. In addition, through exercise, students can build a healthy body, beautiful posture, and enhance their self-confidence and charm. This kind of confidence and charm can attract more people’s attention and admiration, thereby increasing the opportunities and possibilities of interacting with others.
Knock on the blackboard
More exercise is not always better
Of course, more exercise is not always better. Exercise must be done in moderation, and too much is not enough. Excessive exercise not only causes physical and mental fatigue, but can even have adverse effects on muscles, joints, and bones. Parents can develop reasonable exercise plans for their children based on their physical condition and athletic ability, and pay attention to rest and recovery during exercise.
The optimal duration of each exercise should be between 45-60 minutes, and 3-5 days a week is more suitable. It is worth mentioning that although exercise is good, it is not a panacea. When you find that your child has a psychological problem that you cannot solve yourself, you still need to seek help from a professional psychiatrist for diagnosis and treatment.
Text/Li Hongna (Shunyi Women and Children’s Hospital)
