Kids Fitness Needs

Both of my kids have spent much of their childhood involved in soccer. As parents we like it, because there's a lot of cardiovascular activity, and with outside coaches, not as much room for parental interference, er, involvement, as some other sports.

Unfortunately, a recent study by the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine, indicated that youth team sports often don't provide the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity. Typically, most travel teams meet once or twice a week for practice, along with one or two games. Bottom line, kids, no matter the sport, should be doing something on the other days as well to meet prescribed fitness needs.

The study examined 200 youth baseball, softball, and soccer players, ages 7-14, in San Diego. Only 24% met the prescribed 60-minute per day goal! The soccer players fared the best, and boys tended to be more active than girls.


One of the problems was the structure of the team's practices themselves. The study found that
kids were "moderately or vigorously" active, only 46% of the prescribed practice time. In other words, there was a lot of standing around, watching a skill performed by one player or a coach, rather than having everyone practice a skill at the same time.

The key for coaches is to stay away from the dreaded "lines" so common from the days of our Phys Ed classes, and keep everyone engaged in small groups.

Gym classes can help make up the gap needed to fulfill the "60 minutes a day" recommendation for kid's health, but many schools have cut back on P.E , which is often limited to one day per week.

As parents, it's our job to pitch in and fill up the gap. Ride a bike with your kids, take a hike,
do something that engages them. while keeping it fun for everyone involved. It does take an effort at times, but it's worth it!