Good health habits do not start when you’re in your 30s or 40s and decide to pay attention to the aches or stiffness you’ve been feeling for years, healthy habits are learned first as children. Outside playtime or sports are much more than play; it’s a time for children to develop social skills, learn to work as a team, and above all else exercise!

Think about it, children sit an awful lot! Between siting in school for nearly eight hours a day plus all those video games, it is crucial children to get in at least an hour of physical activity. Dr. David Harsha agrees with me as he said, “Positive long-term lifestyle changes need to be established early,” in the article, “The Benefits of Physical Activity in Childhood.”

Don’t think this just applies to children!!!

Adults need physical activity to keep their muscles strong and bodies mobile also. As we age muscles can lose strength and joints become stiff, regular activity prevents both. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), even if you already have arthritis muscle strengthening exercises can reduce the pain since, “…having strong muscles takes some of the pressure off the joints.”

The road to a pain free life begins in childhood with daily exercise. If you agree please donate whatever amount you can to the YMCA HERE.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Physical Activity and Arthritis Overview. December 28, 2011.

2. HARSHA, DAVID W. PHD, The Benefits of Physical Activity in Childhood (1995). The American Journal of Medical Sciences.