The Affect Exercise has on Children's Mental Health

    Most people know exercising is critical in keeping our bodies healthy and in shape, but not everyone thinks about how it affects the brain's health. This is crucial to learn as a child and keep up with as an adult. First, there are many forms of exercising and it is up to the individual to choose the one they enjoy the most. For me, it is powerlifting and high-intensity (HIIT) interval training. For some of my friends, it is tennis and swimming; for others, it is simply hiking. That is the best part about exercise and working out, it takes many forms: walking, running, dancing, swimming, boxing, lifting, hiking, biking, football, horseback, or showing up to the gym and doing whatever you feel like doing. It can be intimidating to start something new and do such in a public space but you can even work out in the comfort of your own home. Don't know what to do or where to start? Google and social media has hundreds of diverse workout plans for every genre of physical activity. All of this is important to keep in mind when trying to improve mental health. Physical activity can only help so much if you are participating in something you do not enjoy. 

    I got into powerlifting and HIIT in an attempt to tire out my raging anxiety. This was just over a year ago, my sophomore year of college. At that point in my life, I was experiencing two to three anxiety and panic attacks a day every single day. The severity of them became so bad I was throwing up or paralyzed and shaking, unable to speak fluently. But wouldn't you know? As soon as I started working out 45 minutes a day they slowly faded out. Currently, I average one anxiety attack every other month. Exercise is not a cure, only an aid and it helps with more than just anxiety. It also releases endorphins which help with depression, improve sleep, and improve self-confidence. This is why exercise is such a good foundation for a healthy and happy child.

    Children require sixty minutes of exercise a day. It does not have to happen all at once, but collectively. They have a lot of excess energy that adults do not have. This excess energy needs to be burnt off and not bottled up creating negative habits. Also with all of the excess energy being burnt off, children have an easier time going to bed and sleeping. Exercise also helps with self-confidence for both children and adults. It is more important for children as they are not fully developed so throughout life they are innately more confident when handed new challenges. This most correlates with exercises that include hopping, throwing, or catching. Experts who research this correlation found that children have a better outlook on life. They are more confident, can manage their anxiety and depression, and have increased self-esteem and cognitive skills. A study done in Norway shows that children between the ages of six and eight who participate in moderate to vigorous activity have fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression two years later.

    Not many people think that children suffer from anxiety or depression but it is a lot more common than you would suspect 9.4% of children between the ages of 3-17 have been diagnosed with anxiety from 2016-2019 and 4.4% have been diagnosed with depression. Those are only the children that have been formally diagnosed there are so many others who go under the radar such as myself.  These numbers have gone up as more time has gone by. These numbers have increased over time as well. The diagnosis of anxiety went from 5.5% in 2003 to 6.4% in 2007. The diagnosis of depression went from 4.7% in 2007 to 4.9% in 2012. Exercise is not a cure for any mental illness but a helpful aid. The more vigorous exercises could also take the place of any negative coping skills such as self-harm which is becoming more prevalent in high school-aged children. I have found this to be true with myself and when talking to my therapist about this exact phenomenon in high school, she informed me that many others feel the exact same way. It does this because when using your muscles at full compacity and pushing your body it creates a sensation like that of pain. When children or adults self-harm they view it as something they deserve or to simply feel something. Pushing through a physically and mentally challenging workout makes an individual empowered. It makes gives them a sense of confidence that they can do hard things which seeps in to the outlook on their own life and mental health.