Parenting has never been easy. This pandemic has made it even harder for many parents and guardians. It is not easy to keep the children always at home with so many restrictions. It's not easy to keep them engaged productively without giving them much screen time. In many countries, school has remained closed and online classes are the only resort for the parents and guardians for their child's learning. Life has changed a lot since March, 2020. Everything has become more online than ever. Many working parents are now at home physically but they are working from home with children around and without day care. School going children lost their usual routine too without in-campus school hours, fun with friends at park and after school activities. An online survey was conducted in May 2020 to understand the impact of COVID-19 on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) for the children aged between 5 to 13 years. It was prominent that reduced PA and increased SB has made a negative impact on mental and physical health on the children. The negative outcomes were muscle loss, reduced cardiorespiratory fitness, prone to injury leading to weight gain, early onset of puberty and psychological problems. In certain cases, it led to overall poor academic results and temperamental behaviour among the children. Study says that the average PA time was 540 minutes per week before Covid-19 for children which reduced to 105 minutes per week, during the pandemic. There has been a drastic reduction in PA time since covid-19 hit us. Another study found that children from certain ethnic or racial minorities and those who are being raised in low income households are less active physically now during pandemic than pre-covid-19 time.
The study further predicted that increased screen time and decreased PA time will affect the world's future generation health. It can have larger than expected negative impact in coming years. It can also affect children’s immunity level as they are not getting enough exposure to sunlight which can lead to Vitamin D deficiency. Even though Covid-19 vaccination drive has started for adults in many countries, the infection is still spreading globally and living a normal life like before, is still a far fetched dream for everyone. In the meantime as a parent, we cannot sit idle and wait for a Covid-19 free world. Instead, let us take up the initiative to bring in a better PA time among children even though it may sound daunting to start with. I have tried to list down five best practices to bring in physical health among children in the most difficult situation like this, covid-19 pandemic. I will try to give you a quick guide to achieve 60 mins of physical activity which can be done every day. It will eventually help the children to achieve 7 hours of physical activity per week, which is a good number for the overall growth as per the health experts. Let us begin.
Morning Breathing exercise
Every morning when you greet your child “Good Morning” and they are still on their bed, ask them to sit in a criss cross leg position. Once they are seated in that position and comfortable, make them inhale slowly and exhale from mouth by making a funny sound ‘whoosh’. Let them do this couple of times to be mindful before they start their day. This deep breathing exercise will make good use of their respiratory capacity and keep those little lungs happy. Total time : 05 mins
Giraffe stretch
Giraffes have seven vertebrae in their neck - the exact same number that humans have! Stretching the neck will help in strengthening the neck muscles. As children need to attend online classes, completing their assignments online, sitting in a still position has increased than before. It can lead to neck pain and neck stiffness. Therefore simple eye and neck exercises like side and diagonal neck stretches, chest and shoulder stretches, head rolls, chin tucks, wrist stretch can be done regularly at a specific time. This kind of simple daily exercise will help build good habits like small atomic changes give great results over time. Total time : 10mins
Mid day fun dance
Around midday, well before lunch time, play some groovy music to make them feel like shaking their legs. Dance is an activity which involves greater range of motion. Children anyway naturally love to move around. As a parent you can start this activity with little fun like blowing a honk or a whistle, just to draw the attention of the children. It would be great if you and other grown ups in the house can also join this fun dance. It is good to be active and who can be harmed with little madness. As they say, the more the merrier! As a working parent, you may have meetings and other commitments which may prevent you to stick to a fixed time, so keep it flexible but regular. Total time: 20 mins.
Animal walk
Ask your child to name a few animals' names. It could be a reptile, insect, mammal or a bird. Then, imitate their walk all around the house. I am sure it would be fun if one became a crocodile and the other chose to be a monkey. Again, the purpose is to move around and use certain body muscles to stretch and be active in a fun way. One of the resources I can share here is cosmic kids yoga videos. They have interesting yoga videos with different themes. Animal walk activity can be done in the evening but well before dinner. It can increase their appetite so they become less fussy on the dining table. Total time: 30mins
Bear hug
Voila! You have achieved your child’s daily 60 mins goal of being active. Now, at the end of the day, give your child a dose of ‘Bear hug’ and a positive touch. In this tough time, the world is going through a tough time so are the little children. Do not underestimate the importance of this hug which will keep the children feel secure, safe and boost happiness. It is proved that an affectionate touch can reduce a lot of anxiety, stress and increases levels of dopamine and serotonin. Help the children to become a happy adult in future!