Overcoming Childhood Anxiety Through Exercise

For a child, having anxiety is more common than many would think. Childhood fears begin early when small children may be afraid of the dark or feel afraid to be away from a parent. As they grow, fears of not fitting in or not being able to make friends is something that many children will worry about at one point or another in their lifetime. For many children, these fears which usually tend to ease up and slowly drift away can manifest into anxiety disorders. An anxiety disorder can, over time, begin to have serious ramifications on a child’s growth and development, friendships and even daily interactions with family. Anxiety disorder is often not noticed by parents or caregivers and this can lead to adult anxiety. Rather than allow anxiety to continue, there are ways to combat it before it has a chance to grow into a disorder or a disparaging situation for the child.

The Loss of Physical Activityr
Over the last decade, the dilemma of childhood anxiety has been on the rise while at the same time, physical education has been on the decline many school systems throughout the nation. For most, this is due to lack of funding or funding needed in other areas of education and testing for school age children. Unfortunately, with the decline of physical education, many children now have a higher risk of developing depression, anxiety and other mental health problems as well as running the risk of dangerous, and often deadly, diseases including heart disease and obesity.

The Internet

At home, working parents often rely computers, tablets and the internet to essentially babysit children during work hours. After all, the internet is a great place to find answers to homework questions as well as play games and socialize with friends. Unfortunately, this type of lifestyle can lead to children living a very inactive life which contributes to a higher risk of heart disease and obesity as well as mental health problems including anxiety and depression. While many children enjoy playing games online, others find that the internet is a place where peers can freely bully them and essentially make their lives miserable.

Video Games

For some parents, they try to replace the computer time with video games. Gaming can be a fun way to learn strategies and even develop hand/eye coordination. It is also something that all too often leads to social anxiety and even addiction. Did you know that a person can become addicted to gaming? Excessive gaming, or gaming addiction known as pathological gaming, can lead to severe anxiety and depression. Social fears ranging from paranoia to complete social isolation are at higher risk when a child becomes addicted to gaming and does not do anything physical outside of the gaming realm. There are, thankfully, things that a parent can do to help lessen the issues that arise from online activities and gaming that can help lower the risk of a child developing anxiety or depression.

The Benefits of Exercise

Anxiety can cause physical symptoms including crying, physical shaking, a racing heart and even dizziness or passing out. It can also cause breathing difficulty and other physical symptoms. This is because when a person is having an anxiety attack, they feel essentially the same way that someone being chased by a ferocious animal would feel. Scared. Terrified. Defenseless. An anxiety attack causes a rush of adrenaline which may affect the entire nervous system all at once. This nervous attack on the body and mind can be combatted with the use of exercise.
It is thought by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), although not yet proven, that exercise stimulates the chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters, that transmit signals throughout the body and mind. When the neurotransmitters are stimulated, anxiety and depression can decrease as tension in the body is lowered through physical activity.

Getting Kids to Exerciser
Sometimes, it may be difficult to try to incorporate physical activity into a child’s life, especially if they have been avid television watchers, gamers or enjoy spending time on social media. One of the most important things to do in cases such as these is to not draw attention to the fact that you are trying to move them to a more active lifestyle. To do this, you can try a few things that have worked for others.
1. If you do not have a pet, now may be a great time to bring one into the family. Pets are great, not only are they fun to have around but they also make excellent walking partners and kids seem to love walking, training and in general, playing with pets. The family dog can be a great way to get a child motivated to start taking daily walks. Let them build up slowly by taking short walks but over time, they may find that longer walks are great.

2. Make exercise fun by making a family health night and work out together. Children love to see their parents as they attempt to do exercises that they just are not flexible enough to do anymore. Start family challenges and work together towards a healthier body and mind.

3. Take a hike. If you live near the country, great! If not, then take a trip on the weekends and start hiking. Even if the hike is short, it’s a great way to get out of the house, enjoy some beautiful natural scenery and start boosting your child’s energy levels up and lowering the anxiety.

Using exercise to help decrease anxiety and depression is something that has long been discussed by health professionals and along with the benefits of lowering anxiety and depression, it is also a great way to reduce the risk of heart disease and obesity and set a child on the right path to a healthier outlook on life. The American Heart Association recommends at least one hour of exercise per day, but when starting out, even a half hour can be very beneficial.

While the benefits of exercise for anxiety and depression as well as other health related issues can be great, be sure to speak to your doctor or your child’s doctor before beginning any exercise program.