Exercise and Physical Activity. Common attitudes about health/exercise: Not a priority…we lack a true understanding of the mind-body connection and how.

Exercise and Physical Activity

Common attitudes about health/exercise:• Not a priority…we lack a true

understanding of the mind-body connection and how exercise affects more than just our appearance…

• Exercise helps to “burn some energy”…actually exercise releases hormones that have a calming, focusing effect

• The myth of “Skinny = Healthy” “I’m the same weight I was in high

school”• On eating unhealthy foods/eating in

excess: “You’ve got room for it”The truth is that our brain CRAVES

exercise.

How Physically Active Are High School Students?

23.718.5

15.5 14.917.1

10.5

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Female Male White Black Hispanic

Per

cen

t

* Were physically active doing any kind of physical activity that increased their heart rate and made them breathe hard some of the time for a total of at least 60 minutes/day during the 7 days before the survey.

Source: National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007.

Overweight and Obesity Defined

• Overweight: having extra body weight,for a particular height, from fat, muscle, bone, or water.

• Obesity: having a high amount ofexcess body fat.

Energy Balance

Energy In = Energy Out

Percentage of U.S. Children and Adolescents Who Were Overweight*

02468

1012141618

1963-70* *

1971-74 1976-80 1988-94 1999-2000

Ages 12-19

Ages 6-11

5

4

16

15

* >95th percentile for BMI by age and sex based on 2000 CDC BMI-for-age growth charts**Data are from 1963-65 for children 6-11 years of age and from 1966-70 for adolescents 12-17 years of ageSource: National Center for Health Statistics

*>95th percentile for BMI by age and sex based on 2000 CDC BMI-for-age growth charts.

**1963–1970 data are from 1963–1965 for children 6–11 years of age and from 1966–1970 for adolescents 12–17 years of age.

Source: NCHS. Health, United States, 2010: With Special Feature on Death and Dying. Hyattsville, MD. 2011

Percentage of U.S. Children and Adolescents Classified as Obese, 1963–2008*

4.6

4.2

19.6

18.1

ObesityNot just an adult concern anymore…

Conditions Seen in Children•High Cholesterol•Type 2 Diabetes/Impaired Glucose Tolerance•High Blood Pressure•Social Problems andPoor Self-Esteem•Sleep Disturbances•Orthopedic Problems

Obese children and adolescents are more likely to become overweight or obese adults•Heart Disease•Cancer•Stroke•Type 2 Diabetes•Osteoarthritis•Physical Disability•High Blood Pressure•Sleep Apnea

Genetics

Environment

Unhealthy Diet

Sedentary Lifestyle

Lack of Physical Activity

Factors Contributing to Obesity

RationalePhysical activity and healthy eating are linked with

• Academic Success• Health and Well-being

• Risk for Obesity • Risk for Chronic Conditions

(e.g., osteoarthritis)

• Risk for Chronic Diseases(e.g., cancer)

What are Aerobic Activities?• Activities that keep your

body moving enough to increase your heart rate and make you breathe harder

• There are two intensities of aerobic activity:– Moderate-intensity– Vigorous-intensity

Types of Moderate- and Vigorous- Intensity Aerobic Activities

Type ofPhysical Activity

Age Group

Children Adolescents

Moderate-intensity aerobic

• Active recreation, such as hiking, skateboarding, rollerblading

• Bicycle riding• Brisk walking

• Active recreation, such as canoeing, hiking, skateboarding, rollerblading

• Brisk walking• Bicycle riding (stationary or road bike)• Housework and yard work, such as

sweeping or pushing a lawn mower• Games that require catching and

throwing, such as baseball and softball

Vigorous-intensity aerobic

• Active games involving running and chasing, such as tag

• Bicycle riding• Jumping rope• Martial arts, such as karate• Running• Sports such as soccer, ice or field

hockey, basketball, swimming, tennis• Cross-country skiing

• Active games involving running and chasing, such as flag football

• Bicycle riding• Jumping rope• Martial arts, such as karate• Running• Sports such as soccer, ice or field

hockey, basketball, swimming, tennis• Vigorous dancing, cross-country skiing

Benefits of aerobic exercise:• Physically: improves visual tracking,

coordination/dexterity, hand speed, health and fitness

• Emotionally: enhances ability to cope with feelings of anger and stress, reduces behavioral issues, improves self-image, raises motivation through goal-setting, improves cooperative skills

• Cognitively: improves alertness and concentration, significantly enhances learning and recall of learned information

Types of Muscle-Strengthening Activities

Type of Physical ActivityAge Group

Children Adolescents

Muscle-strengthening • Games such as tug-of-war

• Modified push-ups (with knees on the floor)

• Resistance exercises using body weight or resistance bands

• Rope or tree climbing

• Sit-ups (curl-ups or crunches)

• Swinging on playground equipment/bars

• Games such astug-of-war

• Push-ups and pull-ups

• Resistance exercises with exercise bands, weight machines, hand-held weights

• Climbing wall

• Sit-ups (curl-ups or crunches)

What Are Bone-Strengthening Activities?

• Activities that produce a force on the bones that promotes bone growth and strength, such as jumping

• Activities that are especially important for young people because the greatest gain in bone mass occur during the years just before and during puberty

Types of Bone-strengthening Activities

Type of

Physical Activity

Age Group

Children Adolescents

Bone-strengthening • Games such as hopscotch

• Hopping, skipping, jumping

• Jumping rope

• Running

• Sports such as gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, tennis

• Hopping, skipping, jumping

• Jumping rope

• Running

• Sports such as gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, tennis

The Relationship Between Fitness Levels and Academic Achievement,

in California Grade 7Grade 7 SAT-9 and Physical Fitness Scores

2631 34

41

50

60

2832

3644

54

66

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 2 3 4 5 6

Physical Fitness Level

SA

T-9

Perc

en

tile

Reading Mathematics

The science behind it all…from John Ratey’s book,

SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

• Our brains are capable of growing new nerve cells (called neurogenesis) and strengthening connections among each other our entire life. The more connections our nerve cells make among themselves, the stronger and faster our ability to learn and recall new information.

Paths → Roads → Highways → Freeways & Bypasses• There are 2 ways to grow and strengthen these

connections:-Aerobic exercise -Complex tasks that require bilateral coordination and/or that cross the midline (cross-lateralization)i.e. Playing a musical instrument or CUP STACKING!

• These different types of tasks compliment one another

Complex Tasks• Activities that require us to coordinate movements

involving both sides of our body force us to create new connections between nerve cells in the brain

• BRAIN EXERCISES– Double Doodle – words, pictures– Rock, Paper, Scissors– Countdown– Hand Weave– Gotcha!– Fingers, Toes, and Friends – Copy Cat (follow your partner’s/teacher’s pattern)– Keyboard (with/without music)http://www.funbrain.com/

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

• “Miracle Gro” for new nerve cells in the brain• A hormone that pools near the synapses

where signals (information) are transmitted between nerve cells in the brain

• BDNF helps grow and protect nerve cells• When we exercise, most of our blood is

sent to working muscles to deliver glycogen and oxygen but…

• Almost immediately after aerobic exercise, blood and BDNF flood the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, the part of our brain that is responsible for creativity and “cognitive flexibility”…the ability to learn new info.

Exercise and the Brain:• Improves learning on 3 levels

1. Optimizes alertness, attention, and motivation2. Prepares/encourages nerve cells to connect to

one another, the basis for learning new info3. Spurs development of new nerve cells in the

brain• Slows the natural nerve cell deterioration

associated with aging, possible preventive of Alzheimer’s

• The area of the brain affected the most after exercise (pre-frontal cortex) controls executive function, or decision making, allowing the individual to think about a decision before acting on it. This is a function that students with ADHD symptoms have a very difficult time controlling.