Mental Health in School aged children
Many school-aged children and young people suffer from poor body image, low self-esteem, bullying, depersonalization, shame, eating disorders, obesity, depression & anxiety. In fact, it is estimated that ten percent of school-aged children show signs of a mental disorder rising to twenty-five percent by adulthood.**
Many school-aged children and young people suffer from poor body image, low self-esteem, bullying, depersonalization, shame, eating disorders, obesity, depression & anxiety. In fact, it is estimated that ten percent of school-aged children show signs of a mental disorder rising to twenty-five percent by adulthood.**
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Obesity in school-aged children
In 2015, an NHS study looking at obesity in children aged 2-15 years found a staggering 28% of children in England were either overweight or obese.***
We clearly have an issue that needs to be addressed urgently in ways that are acceptable to young people and their families. Both mental illness and obesity carry high risk of serious problems in adulthood.
A quick look at the research
A systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth was carried out in 2010 by Janssen and LeBlanc****, looking at the outcomes of 86 research papers. They found (not surprisingly) that physical activity was associated with many health benefits for the children in these studies. Recommendations based on their meta-analysis study were:
- Children and youth 5-17 years of age should accumulate an average of at least 60 minutes per day and up to several hours of at least moderate intensity physical activity. Some of the health benefits can be achieved through an average of 30 minutes per day.
- More vigorous intensity activities should be incorporated or added when possible, including activities that strengthen muscle and bone
- The dose-response relations observed in observational studies indicate that the more physical activity, the greater the health benefit.
- Aerobic activities should make up the majority of the physical activity. Muscle and bone strengthening activities should be incorporated on at least 3 days of the week.
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There are some benefits of yogadance that may make it especially helpful for young people as a form of preventative health care:
- Yogadance can help to teach self-compassion which in turn has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression by Kristen Neff from the University of Austin Texas and others.
- Yogadance is helpful for building emotional resilience, self-compassion and self-compassion. Rather than being told about the importance of self-compassion, in Yogadance they actually experience increasing self-compassion whilst dancing and whilst meditating.
- Yogadance is an accessible activity that is very acceptable to many young people as it does not require any self-revelation and focusses on the positive.
- Yogadance, is a form of exercise which can help young people trying to deal with the emotional turmoils of adolescence as well as weight management, mental focus and heart health.
- The use of carefully chosen contemporary music and simple dance appeals to young people who sometimes find it easier to relate emotionally to song lyrics and music than to conversations with well-intentioned adults.
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Notes & references:
*I am not, of course, advocating Yogadance as a replacement for medical or psychological therapies. Anyone taking medication should follow their doctor's recommendations and instructions carefully and only take exercise such as yogadance with permission from their doctor.
** The Health & Social Care Information Centre, 2009, Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, Results of a household survey.
***http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB22610/HSE2015-Child-obe.pdf.
****Jansson, I & LeBlanc, (2010) International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity2010 7:40