Children spend very little time outdoors, and unfortunately, it is not the first time we echo this sad reality. It’s really alarming that Only one in four children between four and 12 years old play daily abroad.
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics, concerned about this problem, recommends that parents be in contact with nature to protect your physical and mental health. And we are not aware of the amount of chronic problems and diseases that we could avoid if we spent more time enjoying the sun and the outdoors.
The risks of not playing outdoors
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics has created a Environmental Health Committee which aims to improve the health of children and adolescents, relying on nature and the outdoors and away from unhealthy habits.
According to data from this Committee, Spanish children between four and 12 years old spend an average of almost one thousand hours a year in front of the screens, which means 20 hours a day in closed spaces.
The contact with nature has multiple physical and mental benefits, but only one in four children plays outdoors every day, being even worse in big cities.Contact with nature would improve the health of children and adolescents with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and asthma, help control obesity and prevent addiction to alcohol and other drugs in adolescents.
At the neurocognitive level, the fact that children can play outdoors outdoors would improve behavior problems, would balance the levels of vitamin D (which we have already seen that there is a worrying deficit among the population) and would provide them with greater mental well-being.
"Asthma and respiratory pathologies have doubled their prevalence since 1980 and 10% of children suffer from asthma; autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder already affect one in 80 newborns alive; childhood cancer and adolescent increases its incidence between 1% and 1.5% annually and other endocrinological diseases such as thyroid disorders, diabetes or abnormalities in puberty and development also follow an ascending pattern "
"Not to mention globesity (global obesity), whose prevalence in the child population has been alarming for some years, reaching 33% of school-age children in some autonomous communities" - explains Dr. Juan Antonio Ortega, coordinator of the Environmental Health Committee of the AEP
All These diseases have been identified by health authorities as environmental-related disorders. And what is more important, "Most of these diseases are preventable by providing our children with healthier environments."- notes Dr. María José Mellado, president of the AEP.
Let winter not stop us!
Therefore, pediatricians and health professionals themselves, aware of the role they play as prescribers of healthy habits, are beginning to alert parents to the dangers of the lack of contact with nature, and prescribing time and outdoor games as a solution to many of the problems currently presented by the children of our society.
Encouraging outdoor games, nature excursions and family sports are excellent leisure alternatives that all children should be able to do daily.
Many may think that we are at a time of year when the cold can prevent doing all these things, but nothing is further from reality. If the Nordic countries are aware of the importance of enjoying nature even in extreme temperatures, how can we not do it?
Let's warm our children and leave the car at home. Let's enjoy your company with a morning walk to the school, and at the exit, make a stop in the park and snack outdoors. Let them play for a little while and do sports, or practice some physical activity with them.
And when the weekend comes, what better plan on these dates than to spend a day in the mountains? We will admire the beauty of autumn, breathe fresh air and if we are lucky, let's enjoy the first snowfall with them!
Run, play, climb trees, collect leaves or nuts, jump in puddles with good water boots, make the first snowmen ... All these experiences are really fun for children, enrich at the family level and, as pediatricians explain, they greatly improve their health. What more could you want?
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Via Pediatric environmental health, a priority objective of the 21st century - AEP
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