By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
Unlike baby cows which will walk and run around soon after birth, human babies will need one year, more or less, before they are able to walk. Our babies need first to be carried and cuddled. But once they learn to use their hands and legs, parents and caregivers will have to let go of these little bundles of joy.
It’s natural for children to explore. You could imagine their joy and wonder at the discovery that they can move from place to place using, first, all fours with their arms and knees ( some, though, use their buttocks and hands) then later only their 2 feet! As they learn to balance themselves, they will learn to climb and run and soon they are all over the place and will need you, dear caregiver, to be more watchful.
Children are the best mimics. They will try to do everything they see being done by people. This is why child development experts now don’t recommend watching TV for kids below 6 years old. We believe these experts so we banned TV at home. Children will react to whatever stimuli there are in their environment. So if there are chairs and stairs and trees, they will want to climb those things. They will want to water the plants, carry water, sweep the floor, do laundry, feed the chickens, play house, play “teacher” – IF their environment offers those stimuli. So, parents/caregivers, now is the time to start teaching our children basic tasks at home and in the farm while they like to do them. Apprenticeship – just like what our grandparents and those before them did.
As children explore and discover, they develop their bones, joints and muscles – they develop muscle strength, bone density, flexibility, coordination, balance, endurance. What more – these various physical activities are necessary for the development of their neural pathways which are, in turn, required for healthy brain development. Imaginative, purposeful outdoor activities like playing “step yes, step no”, tatsing lata, Chinese garter, jumping rope, climbing, help develop children’s gross motor skills and pathways in the higher brain. Performing household chores, finger games (like “pikko pikko”) help develop fine motor skills and also pathways in the higher brain. As they engage in these activities they build up their confidence, learn to articulate their thoughts and feelings. Pity the child whose every move is hampered by the parent who says “NO, don’t climb that tree, you will fall down”, “NO, don’t run, you will stumble”.
Aside from building and maintaining healthy bones, muscles and joints and brains/psyche, these varied physical activities help control weight, lower fat, prevent the development of high blood pressure and other lifestyle diseases. Please take note that children can also develop high blood pressure just like adults. Physical activities, in short, are necessary if we want our children to be and grow healthy. So don’t be surprised if children from the far barangays (who have longer distances to walk, who carry palay and camote and have more physical activities) are healthier than those in the town centers.
For many children in town centers and cities, these imaginative, physical activities in natural surroundings have given way to watching games or nursery rhymes in cellphones or tablets, watching TV, playing video games and spending hours with gadgets inside four cement walls.
So what can parents/caregivers do? Dr. Edward Laskowski, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the famous Mayo Clinic, USA, says “A parent’s active lifestyle is a powerful stimulus for a child. You are a role model for your children; set a good example by making physical activity a priority in your life.”
The Centers for Disease Control (USA) recommends that children and adolescents have AT LEAST sixty (60) minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most, preferably all, days of the week.
What can leaders and communities do?
1. Create opportunities for wholesome physical activities in the community, especially in schools.
2. Provide safe, natural, public spaces that encourage physical activities for families. I call on the DPWH to provide adequate sidewalks so walking along our roads would be safe.
3. Provide upright and physically active role models for children and youth.
November is Children’s Month. Time for us to focus on letting our children be children. Let our children develop naturally – let us let them use their hands, legs, heads and bodies for the purposes they were designed to be used. Let us give them the joy of exploring and discovering nature and learning from it. For this is their right- their right to be healthy. ***
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“And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”Mark 10:16
