Youth Fitness  Most experts feel that American children and youths are less healthy, active, and physically fit than is recommended Youth are increasingly overweight. Only half exercise vigorously Girls exercise less than boys Upper body strength is poor for many children and youths. Aerobic fitness is lower than recommended for many young people Many young people have disease risk factors.

Physiological Considerations an overview  Use oxygen more efficiently  Less able to facilitate anaerobic pathways  Cardiovascular system is not fully developed until 12 – 20 years of age  Less efficient ventilation  Have low tolerance to extreme temperatures  RPE – perceive tasks as easier at any given workload  Have less tolerance for exercise in the heat

Growth and Development  Infancy  Childhood  Adolescents  adulthood

Growth and Development  A child’s growth rate is variable in a 15 year old height can range between 5’1” – 5’11.5” in males and 4’8” – 5’8” in females.  Weight also varies ranging in males between 95 and 175 lbs. and in females between 88 and 172 lbs.  Need to consider maturation and motor development as you evaluate exercise responses and skill.

Tanner Stages of Sexual Maturation  Stage 1- prepubertal stage of development. Absence of any secondary sexual characteristics  Stage 2- indicatees the initail development of each secondary sexual characteristic Initial elevation of breasts in girls and enlargement of the genitals in boys. For both sexes pubic hair begins to appear

Tanner continued  Stage 3 & 4- Continued maturation of each secondary sexual characteristic. Pubic hair becomes coarser and begins to curl. Relative enlargement of larynx in boys. Increase in pelvic diameter begins in girls.  Stage 5 Indicates adult maturation.

Trainability of Preadolescents  Aerobic capacity is small to moderate  Anaerobic capacity negligible  Muscular Strength and Endurance can be improved BENEFITS RISKS FACTORS INFLUENCING SAFETY PRINCIPLES

Precautions for exercising in extreme heat  Light weight clothing (single layer)  Wet clothes should be replace  Should gradually increase over 10 –14 days  Intensity and duration should be initially lower  Subjectively will acclimatize faster (therefore at greater risk of heat stress)  If exercise more than 30 minutes should replace every 10 – 15 minutes with 100 – 15- ml of water or sport drink ( no added benefit)

ACTIVITY GUIDELINES FOR PREADOLESCENTS (COPEC 1998)  minutes of accumulated physical activity daily is recommended  Accumulation of more than 60 minutes is encouraged  minutes should be moderate to vigorous  Extended inactivity is inappropriate  A variety of activities from the physical activity pyramid suggested

Preadolescent Children Should Be:  allowed to be naturally active  allowed to control the intensity and duration of the activity  encouraged to play outside away from the television and computer  involved with organized activities  provided active role models

Recommended Amount of Physical Activity for Preadolescents  Frequency – everyday  Intensity – variable ( enough to burn about 6-8 kcals/kg/day  Time 30 to 60 minutes of accumulated activity

Recommendations for adolescents guideline 1 All adolescents should be physically active daily, or nearly every day, as part of play, games, sports, work, transportation, recreation, physical education, or planned exercise, in context of family, school, and community activities. Adolescents should do a variety of physical activities as part of their daily life- styles. These activities should be enjoyable, involve a variety of muscle groups and include some weight bearing activities. The intensity or duration of the activity is probably less important than the fact that energy is expended and a habit of daily activity is established. Adolescents are encouraged to incorporate physical activity into their lifestyles by doing such things as walking up stairs, walking or riding a bicycle, for errands, having conversation while walking with friends, parking at the far end of parking lots and doing household chores.

Guideline 2 Adolescents should engage in three or more session per week of activities that last 20 minutes or more at a time and that require moderate to vigorous levels of exertion. Moderate to vigorous activities are those that require at least as much effort as brisk or fast walking. A diversity of activities that use large muscle groups are recommended as part of sports, recreation, chores, transportation, work, school, physical education, or planned exercise. Examples include brisk walking, jogging, stair climbing, basketball, racquet sports, soccer, dance, swimming laps, skating, strength (resistance) training, lawn mowing, strenuous housework, cross-country skiing, and cycling.

BENEFITS OF HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS  Lowers mortality rates  Decreases risk of cardiovascular disease  Decreases risk of certain types of cancer  Lowers risk of NIDDM  Has a positive effect body fat distribution  Relieves symptoms of some mental health disorders  improves health-related quality of life