It has taken many years for physical education to stop being the “gym class”. Having the consideration of being part of the students training is a work that still has a large way to go, since the teaching hours dedicated to this subject are still very scarce. As a recent Gasol Foundation Study indicates, 63% of children don’t comply with the minimum daily exercise recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) of one hour of intense activity per day but, nevertheless, they dedicate an average of 3 hours and up to 5 hours per day at the weekend to sedentary activities.
Therefore, as the school is the place where children spend the most time of the day, it is necessary to reevaluate the amount of hours of physical activity they perform, in order to improve the physical condition of the students and reduce sedentary lifestyle. For this, educational institutions should analyze the total number of weekly hours dedicated to physical activity so that children can improve their academic performance.
Why should children do more sports at school?
- Increase in school performance in the other subjects: having more time to clear up doing physical activity, children can focus better on the tasks of each subject and increase learning capacity.
- Improvement of body posture: learning different sports disciplines allows improving postural habits, both when it comes to practice any sport and when studying. In this way, they will achieve greater concentration and brain oxygenation to incorporate new knowledge.
- Reduction of anxiety: the increase hours in sports allows students to improve their tolerance to anxiety, generating moments of relaxation in situations of stress. According to a study by researchers at the universities of Oxford and Yale, published in The Lancet, sports practice acts on neurotransmitters and transmits a feeling of calm and happiness in the face of the environment.
For this reason, Campus Experience Real Madrid Foundation offers different programs and sports modalities so children enjoy during the summer months. In this way, they can live unique experiences, have hours of exercises and learn in a fun way, through different playful activities.
