What should children pay attention to when doing sports?

Teenagers are in the period of growth, so many sports are not suitable for teenagers. Parents should pay attention to this. People will feel tired and weak when they exercise excessively. If excessive exercise occurs for a long time, it will also cause damage to the brain function, especially for some children. In severe cases, hypoxia may occur. So what should we pay attention to in children's physical exercise?

Don’ts: Tug of War

Tug of war may make children "sad" and "injured". From a physiological point of view, children's hearts are still developing, and the autonomic nervous system's regulatory function on the heart is not yet perfect. When the load on the limbs increases, they mainly rely on increasing the heart rate to increase blood supply. Tug of war requires holding your breath and exerting force, sometimes for up to ten seconds at a time. When you suddenly change from holding your breath to exhaling, venous blood will suddenly rush to the atrium and damage the child's thin atrial wall. Medical workers once conducted physiological examinations on 250 children aged 5 to 6 during a tug-of-war competition and found that the heart rates of all of them were high. One hour after the game, the heart rates of 30% of the children failed to return to normal.

In addition to affecting the heart, tug-of-war may also injure children's "bones and tendons". During childhood, the body's muscles mainly grow vertically, the strength to fix the joints is very weak, and the bones are highly elastic but less hard. Tug-of-war can easily cause joint dislocation and soft tissue injury, inhibit bone growth, and in severe cases cause limb deformation, affecting children's body shape and fitness. In addition, tug-of-war is a highly confrontational sport. Children are competitive and have a strong sense of collective honor. They often find it difficult to control and protect themselves during competitions, and injuries are very likely to occur.

Don’t do it: Strength training

When children grow, they first grow taller and then gain weight. Moreover, their muscles are weak and they get tired easily. In other words, physical development is mainly based on bone growth and has not yet entered the peak period of muscle growth. If children are allowed to do muscle weight-bearing strength training too early at this time, firstly, the local muscles of the children will be too strong, affecting the balanced development of various parts of the body; secondly, the muscles will be stimulated and developed too early, causing a heavier burden on organs such as the heart; in addition, it may also cause local muscles to become stiff and lose their normal elasticity. Therefore, parents should not let their children engage in strength exercises such as pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups that adults often practice. If you want to practice muscle strength, it is more appropriate to start from the first or second year of junior high school.

Don’ts: Long-distance running, weight-bearing running

Long-distance running is a typical impact sport, which puts a high impact on the joints of the human body. Children who frequently engage in long-distance running exercises are not good for the development of the epiphyses in the joints. Especially when running long distances in winter on hard roads, the impact on the joints is greater, and the epiphysis is prone to inflammation, which affects the growth of children. Long-distance running is also a cardio-intensive exercise. If children engage in long-distance running too early, the thickness of the myocardial wall will increase, the expansion of the heart cavity will be restricted, and the development of cardiopulmonary function will be affected. In addition, children's bodies account for a relatively large proportion of water, with low levels of protein and inorganic substances and weak muscle strength. If they participate in long-distance running sports that consume a lot of energy, they will suffer from nutritional deficiencies and hinder their normal growth and development.

In addition, when children run with weights tied to sandbags, their running posture is easily deformed, and incorrect movements can easily lead to sports injuries.

Don’t do four: Arm wrestling

The joint capsules of children's limbs are relatively loose and less strong, so sprains are likely to occur when arm wrestling. In addition, just like tug-of-war, holding your breath is an inevitable phenomenon during arm wrestling. This will cause the pressure in the chest cavity to rise sharply, and the return of venous blood to the heart will be blocked. Then, a large amount of blood retained in the veins will rush violently into the atrium, causing excessive stimulation to the heart wall. If you practice arm wrestling with one arm for a long time, it may cause unbalanced development of the limbs on both sides.

Don’t do 5: Extreme sports

Experts believe that physical exercise for children and adolescents must, first, follow the laws of children's own physical growth and development; second, take into account the anatomical and physiological characteristics of children's bodies. Children are in the growth and development period, and their organs are not yet mature in all aspects. Naturally, it is difficult for them to withstand extremely "challenging" extreme sports, and it is easy to cause injuries. For example, a large amount of exercise that is several times more than the child's body can bear may cause the child's muscles to be in a state of extreme fatigue for a long time, causing muscle fatigue damage, and easily leaving sequelae of sports injuries. In addition, the cartilage in the joints of growing children has not yet fully grown. Excessive wear and tear of the knee cartilage over a long period of time can easily lead to arthritis in the future. Studies show that knee injuries in childhood increase the likelihood of developing arthritis in adulthood by three to four times.

Don’t do six: bunny jump

When doing bunny hops, the weight borne by the human body's center of gravity is equivalent to three times of its own body weight. The impact force borne by the kneecap with each jump is equivalent to one-third of its own body weight. This can easily cause ligament and knee meniscus damage for children whose ossification process has not yet been completed.

Don’t do 7: Handstand

Although children have a stronger ability to regulate intraocular pressure, if they frequently do headstands or do so for too long each time, it will damage the eye's ability to regulate intraocular pressure.

Don’t do 8: Bumper cars

Children under 10 years old are not suitable for playing bumper cars. The muscles, ligaments, bones and connective tissues of children and adolescents are not fully developed and are very fragile. They are easily sprained and bruised when exposed to strong vibrations.

Don’ts: Scooters

Children under 8 years old should not ride scooters. Children's bodies are in a critical period of development. If they play scooters for a long time, their leg muscles will become overdeveloped, affecting the overall development of the body and even affecting their height development. In addition, when riding a scooter, the waist, knees, and ankles need to support the body with force, and these parts are very easy to be injured, so you must take good protection. It is best to have your parents accompany you and find a flat and spacious non-traffic area to play.

Don’ts: Community fitness equipment

Public fitness equipment has very high safety requirements. For example, the most popular "space walker" is obviously only suitable for adults based on its specifications between the two feet. The relevant warnings only stipulate the form of exercise and health taboos, and there are no special restrictions on the age of users. Many teenagers also regard these devices as toys. At present, the number of injuries caused by improper use of fitness equipment by children is increasing, and there are even serious injuries and disabilities. It is understood that the fitness equipment in the community is in principle equipped for middle-aged and elderly people, and there is currently no fitness equipment suitable for children installed.

Some experts point out that it is harmful to the body for underage children to engage in a certain sport too early. Therefore, parents can encourage their children to participate in sports at ordinary times, but they should not let their children engage in a specific sport. This is very detrimental to the child's growth. Therefore, children should do sports within their ability.