7. Asthma:
- 1 in 10 people suffer asthma
- Between the ages of 0-15 more
males have asthma than girls
- Less than 5% is persistent
- 2008, 449 deaths
- Aboriginal high rates of
asthma.
Health can be broken up in to two parts; Physical and Mental. Physical Health is the overall wellbeing and functioning on the individual’s body. Mental Health is one’s ability state of mind and ability to cope with the everyday things going on around us (Reach Out, 2015).
11% of Australian children do not meet Australia’s national guidelines for Physical Activity. Statistics also showed that for many of these children obesity follows them into adulthood.
Todays it is said that approximately 1 in 5 Australian children are overweight or obese.
Health issues can develop from genetics, unhealthy eating patterns and lack of physical activity.
A child’s family can play a vital role in whether or not they are healthy or unhealthy. If parents are overweight it can mean that the child will also be too. This can result from genetics or family eating and exercise patterns.
Children look up to their parents as role models. If the child sees that their parents aren’t participating in physical activity they can begin to think that it is okay to not part take in physical activity. Parents control what their children eat meaning that it is up to them to ensure the child is eating healthily.
If obesity is not targeted and managed during childhood it can lead to a series of physical health issues during adulthood. These health issues can include; stroke or heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers.
The effects of obesity on a child can be the development of long term physical problems such as; heart, bones, hormones and reproductive organs. Along with the physical is the psychological issues. These include isolation, bullying and poor self-esteem.
Obesity can cause not only physical health issues but mental health issues such as depression. Depression can be associated with obesity. The relationship between depression and obesity can be dangerous. For some depression causes the obesity whereas for others the depression is brought on because of obesity.
Just because they are a child does not mean they aren’t at risk of developing depression. Although it may not happen not happen then it can quite possibly develop later in life as a result of their childhood.
The National Survey for Mental Health and Wellbeing recorded that 14% of adolescents aged 4-17 experience mental health problems (Rivers, 2009).
Obesity can lead to bullying. The bullying can take the form of verbal (name calling), physical and being isolated because children no longer want to be friends with them as they may think that they are lazy or mean because of their appearance.
Asthma is a long term condition that affects a persons breathing. It can significantly lead to ill health and poor quality of life as it is obstructs the airways making it harder for the individual to breath.
1 in 10 Australian people suffer from asthma whether it be severe or not.
Less than 5% of children with asthma experience asthma and less than half of these children have asthma action plans in place.
More boys between 0-15 have more asthma than girls although as they get older the statistics change as for 15 years and over more girls experience asthma than boys.
In 2008 449 people died from asthma this was an increase from 2007.
The Aboriginal population are more at risk of developing asthma. This can be due to living in remote areas, doubled rate of smoking and infants being exposed to smoking before and after their birth.
Children aged 0-14 are more likely to attend the emergency room for asthma than adults with 0-4 year old boys being the main group.
Between 2012-2013 37,500 people were admitted to hospital because of asthma. This correlates to 168 people per 100,000 being sent to hospital.
It is critical that people regularly participate in sport and physical activity despite age, ability, gender and back ground.
Playing sport or participating in physical activity can help improve both mental and physical health.
Mental health is improved through building friendships in sport. Many sport activities involve teams and therefore give the child the opportunity to develop friendships with the other children. This can help lift their self-esteem especially if the child has been excluded by others based on their health status.
It can also promote self-esteem through positive body imaging and being in a positive social environment. It is also suggested that it can release anxiety in many adolescents.
Sport and/or physical activity has long been used as a treatment and form of rehabilitation for diseases e.g. obesity and other health issues.
Sport can help you lose and or avoid putting excess on. This is because sport helps burn calories and build lean muscle. It is suggested that this can be achieved through two and a half hours of high intensity physical activity.
Physical activity can help avoid serious medical issues later on in life as it improves the health of the child’s lungs, heart and blood vessels (Cohen, 2013).
As the child develops it is important that they part take in physical activity as it helps with bone and muscle health.
In young people sport is particularly important as it can help develop motor skills and cognitive function.
Sport can decrease the risk of suffering a stroke later in life by approximately 50%.
Exercise is mildly effective at improving depressive symptoms in individuals with chronic physical illness (ASEP, 2013).
Physical health correlates with mental health. If the individual is physically healthy than their self-esteem lifts whereas if they are not physically healthy their self-esteem is typically low.
The school playground can be one of the most important arenas for encouraging children’s physical activity.
The AIS or Australian Institute of Sport have developed a scaffold for school based strategies to promote sport and physical activity. These include; remodelling the school, educating the teachers on the importance of physical activity, integrate sport into homework, maximise sport in OOSH centres, give the students a voice when deciding on the sport.
Schools can encourage physical activity and therefore promote health by having a healthy canteen and removing the lollies and unhealthy foods, having fruit break where they encourage children to eat one piece of fruit along with producing a play environment that promotes physical activity.
This promotion of physical activity can be from having cricket nets or a large sporting areas for them or bringing out various pieces of equipment (e.g. balls and skipping ropes) at break times.
During primary school they have a sports day mainly at the end of the week. Depending on the time of year the sports change from term to term. This change gives them an opportunity to sample a range of different sports.
By giving the students the opportunity to sample the various sports they are able to gain a sense of the sports they like and can pursue them outside of school.
It is shown that children who participate in Active Play during their breaks have enhanced coping skills. Maximising quality play opportunities during school breaks has the potential to enhance children’s physical and mental health (BMC Public Health, 2014, p.4)
Information:
ASEP. (2013). Exercise and Mental Health: An Exercise and Sports Science Australia Commissioned Review. Journal of Exercise Physiology. Retrieved from: https://www.asep.org/asep/asep/JEPonlineAUGUST2013_Morgan.pdf
Cohen, B. (2013). How does playing sport effect your health?. Retrieved from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/245944-how-does-playing-sports-affect-your-health/
Hyndman, B., Benson, A., Ullah, S, & Telford, A. (2014). Evaluating the effects of the Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity Program (LEAP) school playground intervention on children’s quality of life, enjoyment and participation in physical activity. BMC Public Health. Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=86cd23c8-6ca6-404e-8ce5-1cdbd1959e1e%40sessionmgr110&vid=4&hid=124
ReachOut.com. (2015). What is Mental Health?. Retrieved from: http://au.reachout.com/what-is-mental-health?gclid=CjwKEAjwvPepBRCoqo37teOD1XsSJAC7v6WQuJE9AJNKE34fdnJwTJTh6AJZNeLJkGPAfzvKAwNqzBoCub_w_wcB
Rivers, A. (2009). A growing problem- children with a mental illness or mental disorder. Journal of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia. Retrieved from: https://www.chf.org.au/pdfs/hvo/hvo-2009-4-children-with-mental-illness-disorder.pdf
Photo:
Tom, P.A. (2013) 5 reasons to make your child play sport. Retrieved from: http://www.popsugar.com/moms/Reasons-Kids-Play-Sports-31096369
Addanke, G. (2013) What do 10 Food Pyramids, 2 Food Plates and 1 Spinning Top have in common?. Retrieved from: http://blog.mindfulmeal.com/healthy-cooking/global-food-pyramids-and-food-plates/
Kids Matter. (n.d.) How Mental Health Difficulties affect children (0-5). Retrieved from: https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/families/about-mental-health/should-i-be-concerned/how-mental-health-difficulties-affect-children
