Pedagogical concerns in sports and physical education for child growth and health promotion

• Autor(a) principal: Branquinho, Luís
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Forte, Pedro, Ferraz, Ricardo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/25945
• topic: Child; Exercise; Family; Health Promotion; Humans; Physical education and training; Sports

Participation in physical activities plays an important role in and positively influences health and well-being. However, levels of physical activity continue to present worrying levels, with an estimated 2 million people currently dying worldwide as a result of sedentary and inactive lifestyles. For these reasons, it is essential to educate the new generations with healthy habits and lifestyles that can prevail from childhood to adulthood. In fact, childhood is a moment of transformation for children. The discovery of the body and its infinite possibilities of movement, combined with the relationships established with people and the environment, enhance the connection between children and physical activity. It is expected that through this type of stimuli, during growth, a solid cognitive and motor repertoire will be developed that will enable them to overcome challenges imposed by everyday life. Even so, due to an increasingly industrialized society, children have recurrently poor rates of motor literacy and high levels of sedentary lifestyles, which translate into an abrupt increase in childhood obesity. In addition, it is currently known that the development of motor skills is directly related to the general development of children, and for these reasons, its use is essential for sustained growth and development. Physical education classes are the ideal context for promoting healthy habits and lifestyles and therefore cannot be neglected. Nowadays, children enter schools at an early age, which is why it is essential that the teachers responsible for guiding the practice of physical activity provide them with adjusted and creative pedagogical programs and with adequate motor stimulation that enables motor and cognitive development.