Aqua fitness for children

Obesity is becoming a significant health care concern for children as well as adults. The level of physical fitness in children has declined significantly, and the prevalence of obesity is rising rapidly. A decrease in physical education programmes, afterschool activities, and outdoor play combined with the availability and convenience of unhealthy fast foo increase the risk for children to become obese, unfit, and consequently unhealthy. Many fitness leaders and physical educators are concerned that children are not as active as they should be. Exercise can provide the same benefits to children as to adults, and water is an ideal environment for tempting children to play and be active. Most children love the pool and water activities.

In general there are vast number of differences as well as similarities betwen adults and children participating in fitness programmes. But instructors should keep in mind that:

• Children need to be careful of overheating because they have underdeveloped thermoregulatory systems. Children should drink water before, during, and after exercise.
• Children have smaller hearts and lungs that work extremely fast. They require more ventilation that adults to deliver a given amount of oxygen. Their heart rates are higher than adults, and they have an increased ventilatory rate, which supports the notion that they have inferior ventilatory efficiency.
• Children tend to have 20 to 30% greater energy expenditure than adults during aerobic activities.
• It is a child's natural preference to participate in start-stop activities. They do not typically engage in sustained forms of exercise. They should use rate of perceived exertion (RPE) to covey how they feel.
• Children have reduced cardiac output and stroke volume and lower blood oxygen carrying capacity. Their aerobic fitness components differ from adults.

Programme considerations

Factors that affect children's programming content and format inlude attention span, physical capabilities, level of socialization, and socioeconomic background. Programming depends primarily on the age of the child. Programmes should be developed to promote fitness, social skills, motor skills, and healthy habits for each age level. Emphasis should be placed on developing and maintaining healthy habits for children of all ages that will carry into adulthood.

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