Sports can improve the academic achievement of children and adolescents

The benefits of exercise to make the body healthy and fit do not need to be doubted. However, it turns out that sports can also make children smart and perform well in school.

Regular exercise, healthy and appropriate ways to make children smart

The main key to being smart and achieving in school is to study hard. The cognitive function of the brain can indeed decline if the brain is rarely used to think. However, study sessions that are only spent sitting still for hours need to be balanced with physical activity, such as sports.

In addition to helping bone and muscle growth and increasing stamina, physical exercise also nourishes the brain. As long as the body is encouraged to continue to heat up, the heart will continue to pump fresh blood to all organs of the body, including the brain. The smooth flow of blood to the brain prevents damage to brain cells and, at the same time, helps the formation of new brain cells.

Healthy brain cells will work better in supporting the cognitive function of the brain, including the ability to think, the ability to focus / concentration, how a person understands something, solve problems, make decisions, remember, and take action.

Amika Singh, PhD., A researcher from Vrije Universiteit University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and author of Archieves of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, said, "Apart from the effects of physique, exercise can also help the behavior and patterns of daily behavior of children in class so that they are more can concentrate while studying. " Yes. The reason is that in addition to improving blood flow to the brain, exercise also triggers the brain to release the happy mood hormone endorphins, which make children's emotions happier, more stable, and calm, so they rarely “mess up”.

The benefits of exercise for the brain have also been supported by a study showing that on average smart children and those who excel at school are children who are also diligent in exercising.

What is the recommended duration of exercise for children and adolescents?

The average school curriculum in Indonesia includes Health and Physical Education subjects which are conducted at least once a week. However, the duration can be different for each child. For example, if we refer to the 2013 curriculum, the duration of the Physical Education course for schoolchildren ranges between 70 to 100 minutes each week.

Most parents probably feel this is enough. Indeed, ideally the length of time for a child's physical activity in one day is 60 minutes. But exercising once a week at school is not enough, you know! In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends every child and adolescent aged 5-17 years old to exercise at least 60 minutes every day or if the total is 142 minutes a week. When compared, of course not enough, right?

Hence, children still have to be physically active every day. For example, by letting your child ride a bicycle or walk to school, or register him or her for swimming or soccer extracurricular activities. Encourage children to spend their rest time playing together, for example playing hide and seek.

There are many ways that parents can do to guide and get children to exercise every day. In addition to keeping children away from the risk of various dangerous diseases when they grow up, the benefits of exercise have also been proven to make children smart and achieving. No harm, right? So, let's get used to the kids to exercise since they were young!

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