As parents, we all know that we should try to limit the amount of time our children spend inside playing computer games and watching TV and encourage them to go outdoors and exercise more. While this is not always easy to achieve, it is important for their health, weight and general wellbeing.
According to the World Health Organisation, obesity amongst children is one of the biggest risks to health that we will see this century. Getting your children involved with any sport is really beneficial for their health, but what other benefits will they get from playing football.
How does playing football improve a child’s health?
Football provides both aerobic and anaerobic exercise; in fact, simply running up and down the football pitch is a great cardiovascular workout. Training sessions, which often include football training drills, will also help to build muscle tone, strength and coordination. In addition to their physical health, playing football, getting outdoors and working as a team can help your children with their mental health.
What other benefits are there to playing football?
Playing football as part of a team will also help children to make new friends, build their self-confidence, and improve their communication skills. If the team is part of a league, children learn that cooperation is required to win games and that they sometimes need to be selfless to help the team achieve success.
If your child is playing football as part of a team or club, as opposed to playing with friends for fun, football training drills can help performance. A good coach will incorporate a range of different drills to keep training sessions interesting for everyone involved.
Children will also learn important social skills, such as how to be gracious in victory and how to learn from mistakes when the team loses. Discipline is another key life skill that your child will learn, from having to turn up regularly for training sessions to be picked for the team to understanding and adhering to the rules.
If your children show an interest in taking up a sport, football could be a great choice. Of course, it might involve a few early starts at weekends, but this sacrifice will be more than worth it to improve the health and wellbeing of your children.