Since time immemorial, human beings have had to make “movement” their main ally in the struggle for survival. His ability to run, jump, swim, climb and use his hands as tools has allowed him to explore and exploit the environment to his advantage. The fact is that we are made for movement, and to a great extent we depend on it for the formation, development and anatomical and functional consolidation of our being.
Benefits of sports activities in children
The practice of physical activity is natural and fundamental in a child’s life. It offers moments of happiness, fun and learning, while introducing them to a psychosocial environment that stimulates and strengthens them as individuals. It is essential in the prevention of adult diseases and strengthens them physically, mentally and emotionally.
However, in recent decades the academic pressure and competitiveness of the modern society in which we live – with excessively long school days and endless homework sessions, language classes and computer courses – have led to the substitution of sports activities by more “intellectual” activities. It is a well-known fact that the amount of sports that children and adolescents from industrialized countries engage in is decreasing significantly and is far below the official recommendations.
Practicing sports improves attention and memory.
However, thanks to advances in neuroscience, we now know that the intellect is not only nourished by knowledge, and that regular physical activity maintained over time (especially cardiovascular exercise) can produce functional and structural changes in the nervous system by releasing a large number of substances (such as serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline, among others) that modulate and consolidate certain cognitive processes, such as memory.
We also know that there is another important group of substances that increases with physical exercise (such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF, insulin-like growth factor type 1 and vascular endothelial growth factor), and that in animal models these factors can modulate both the increase in the number of neurons and in the number of blood capillaries and the connections between the neurons themselves or synapses.
Therefore, we have discovered that the regular practice of sports helps to optimize the learning process through the secretion of a series of chemical substances that facilitate cognitive processes related to attention and memory. And as if this were not enough, we have learned that the habit of physical exercise introduced at an early age could reduce the risk of long-term mental illnesses (depression, anxiety).
Aerobic exercise is the most beneficial in children.
Despite the undoubted benefits that physical activity brings to these cognitive and mental health aspects, the relationship between physical activity and cognition is extremely complex and not all types of exercise seem to clearly improve all cognitive aspects.
In this sense, it seems that “cardiovascular” or “aerobic” exercise (walking, jogging, running, dancing, skiing, cycling, etc.) is possibly the most effective in terms of improving cognitive function in children. And although more studies are needed, there is enough evidence in the current scientific literature to recommend regular practice of this type of sport as part of a comprehensive treatment to optimize academic performance in children and adolescents.
Because sport (independently of the biological benefits mentioned above), when understood and approached from an adequate pedagogical design, can generate very positive social and personal values and contribute to the integral formation of the person.
It is definitely education, since it transmits associated values (which are essential in the formation of the person and his social skills), such as tolerance, solidarity, effort, sacrifice and respect for others and the rules. It is therefore a source of knowledge, an opportunity to strengthen character and acquire certain values that can be extrapolated to many other areas of family, professional and civic life.
Because ultimately sport is joie de vivre, play and fun; and as such it must be valued and rescued from the excesses of technicality and professionalism, through the recovery of its gratuity, its ability to strengthen bonds of friendship and to promote dialogue and openness towards each other.