Indoor Rainy Day, Snowy Day Fun

This following is an edited transcript from a live course titled, Indoor Rainy Day, Snowy Day Fun, by Amy M Schlessman, PT, DPT, DHS.  It is recommended to follow along with handouts to ensure understanding of material.     >> Amy Schlessman: Today, we will be describing and applying the benefits of physical activity for both children and adolescents.  We will describe and apply general exercise principles for children and adolescents.  We will describe and apply the link between physical activity and learning, including recent research.  We will implement creative, practical indoor activities into the school-based setting performed inside the classroom in small spaces.  We will also implement creative, practical indoor activities into the school-based setting that can be performed in the gymnasium or some of the schools in your area may have a multipurpose room which serves as the cafeteria, gymnasium, and the auditorium, as well the hallways as options for physical activity as we transition around the building.  Remember that not all exercise is suitable for everyone.  This course is not intended as a substitute for the specific advice of a physician or physical therapist.  Consulting with a physician or physical therapist prior to beginning any exercise program is recommended.  My company, Kid Dynamics and myself, Amy Schlessman are not responsible for any injury that may occur during exercise as recommended in this course. Physical Activity and ChildrenBenefits of Physical ActivityWhat are the benefits of physical activity for children?  Some benefits include to control weight, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce the risk for type II diabetes, reduce the risk of some cancers, strengthen bones and muscles, improve mental health and mood, improve ability to do daily activities, and the increase chances of living longer.  Amount of Physical ActivityHow much physical activity do children need?  Take a brief moment to do a silent reflection on the following questions.  Let’s reflect on your community, your children’s schools, and the schools of your patients.  If you are a school-based physical therapist, how do children in your community keep active when the weather keeps children indoors?  What is happening in your clinics, schools, and community centers?  Are there programs that are helping children increase their physical activity level when they need to be indoors?  Are their physical activity programs in the classrooms?  How are you involved?  How are your colleagues involved?  How would you get involved or increase your involvement?  How would you motivate parents, teachers, and/or school administrators to get involved?  How much physical activity do children need?  Do you know?  When we review this information, how are you going to disseminate this information to implement or to improve the programs that you are already doing? Exercise principles for children and adolescents IIn 2008, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans was released; sometimes referred to as PAG.  It is the first ever publication of national guidelines for physical activity.  Sometimes that surprises some of my audience members that it was not that long ago that the first ever publication for those national guidelines came out.  The recommendation is that both children and adolescents will achieve 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day.  Within these 60 minutes, there should be three types of physical activity: aerobic activity, muscle strengthening, and bone strengthening. Aerobic activity.  Most of the 60 minutes of physical activity each day should be aerobic activity.  This is the recommendation.  This can either be moderate intensity or vigorous intensity.  Moderate intensity could be a brisk walk and vigorous intensity could be running.  You want to include the vigorous intensity aerobic activity on at least three of the days of the week.  We will talk a little more about the difference between moderate and vigorous intensity activities for children and adolescents in a moment. Muscle strengthening.  It is recommended that muscle strengthening is incorporated into at least three days per week as part of the 60 minutes or more of physical activity that both children and adolescents are getting.  This can be gymnastics or push-ups, for example.  When you think about muscle strengthening activities, we are thinking about activities that promote all muscle movement and working all the major muscle groups such as the legs, hips, back, chest, stomach, shoulders, and arms. Bone strengthening. These are recommended at least three days a week as part of the 60 minutes or more and these are high impact activities such as jumping rope, running, hopscotch, and we will discuss further examples in a moment. Moderate and Vigorous Intensity ActivitiesWhat is the difference between moderate intensity and vigorous intensity activities?  Two strategies to assist individuals to understand would be the following.  One example that is listed on the CDC’s website is using a visual analog scale.  As physical therapists, we are familiar with a visual analog scale as we use it often when we are trying to do a pain report with our patients, using 0 as the lowest and 10 being the highest.  We can not only use that visual analog scale for pain, but also for the amount of intensity of the exercise.  On the scale again would be 0 to 10.  Sitting would be a 0 and the highest level of activity would be a 10.  You would think the moderate intensity activity would be a 5 or 6.  A moderate intensity activity makes our heart beat faster than normal and makes us breathe harder.  A vigorous intensity activity would be a 7 or 8 where the heart beats much faster than normal and we breathe much harder than normal.Another example is an activity-based comparison.  Depending on your audience, there are different options for you.  With the activity-based comparison, think about the activity level of the child.  Walking to school would be a moderate intensity aerobic activity, or walking down the halls of the school.  Then, a more vigorous intensity activity would be running or chasing each other when playing tag at recess.  If you visit the CDC’s website, they also give other patient-friendly, administrator-friendly, teacher/parent-friendly, and student-friendly examples of comparing moderate to vigorous intensity...