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Health Benefits of Swimming

Cynthia Madison explains why owning a swimming pool benefits your child's health.

Today's parents struggle to help their kids make healthy life choices and stick to healthy lifestyle habits. Every parent knows the struggle of convincing their child to eat all their vegetables, get outdoors and exercise instead of playing on the computer and respect their sleeping schedules.

Yet, in today's digital world, kids have access to technology from a very young age, which limits the time they spend outdoors practicing physical activity. Consequently, medical specialists have noticed a concerning rising trend of childhood obesity, which can have tremendous health and social consequences in their adult years as well.

Childhood is the most crucial period for your child's healthy mental, physical, intellectual, and social development and growth. So, as a parent, you have to look for the best ways to ensure you help your child grow into a well-developed adult. Luckily, you should not look any further than a swimming pool to accomplish that. Here is why owning a swimming pool benefits your child's mental and physical health.

Increased interest in sports since early childhood

Teaching your kids the benefits of exercising and sports at very young ages can be a difficult task. They cannot understand why exercising is vital for healthy growth and development. However, if you find an entertaining physical activity that they enjoy doing, they will not perceive it as an effort but rather a fun time spent outside.  Encouraging your child to practice sports since early childhood can play a huge role in helping them set healthy habits and have an active lifestyle in the future.

Medical specialists explain that children who show interest in and practice a sport at an early age are more likely to be physically active as adults. For example, owning paddling pools gets children interested in swimming from an early age because all kids love splashing and spending time in the water.      

Swimming has many health benefits

Swimming is one of the most beneficial sports for children's healthy growth and development. It is a low-impact exercise that has a multitude of physical and mental health benefits for both kids and adults.

  • Physical health benefits—Swimming is an extremely beneficial exercise for the healthy development of the heart and lungs, as well as for the healthy development of muscles and bones. It also plays a role in increasing endurance and strength, flexibility, and posture.
  • Better cognitive development - Swimming can help kids with better cognitive development. Because it is an exercise that involves the use of both sides of the body and involves bilateral cross-patterning movements, swimming can improve your child's cognitive functioning. Kids who develop aquatic skills from very young ages also tend to have better school performance than their peers at the same age who do not swim.
  • Improved mental well-being - Regardless of what you may think, kids can experience depression, anxiety, and a wide range of negative emotions just as much as adults do. Luckily, swimming can help them improve their mental well-being because the sensory experience of being in the water is very relaxing and calming. Exercising releases endorphins, which give a positive feeling to the entire body and boost a happy mood. Thus, swimming is also beneficial for your child's mental health.

Improved sleeping and eating habits

Are you not tired of spending a lot of time convincing your child to eat their vegetables or going to sleep when their sleeping time arrives? Healthy nutrition and a good night's sleep play a vital role in your child's healthy development and growth. However, it can be challenging to make your child understand their benefits.

A swimming pool can also help you improve your child's sleeping and eating habits after swimming the entire day; not only will your child consume most of their body's energy, but they will also feel very hungry.  If you own a swimming pool and encourage your child to swim every day, it will be a lot easier to convince them to have healthy meals and sleep at a reasonable hour.

Summertime entertainment

When summertime arrives, many parents worry about how they will help their kids spend their free time productively and healthily. If you have a swimming pool in your backyard, you just found a great activity that will be fun and extremely healthy for your kid.

If you do not want your kids to spend their entire summer vacation in front of the screens of their electric devices, you can unplug them by offering them a fun and healthy alternative. Your child is very likely to choose to leave their smartphones and computers over spending a fun day at the pool, where they can play in the water.

Quality family time

Most parents struggle to balance their jobs and parenting in today's busy world. As a result, many kids feel neglected because they do not spend enough time with their parents. Kids who think neglected are more prone to develop insecurities, behavioural issues, and depression and find it very difficult to establish a strong relationship with their parents as they grow up. 

Since the time spent with their parents has a significant impact on their mental health, personality development, and education, you need to find the best ways to spend as much time as possible together with your little one. Thus, last but not least, owning a swimming pool in your backyard can be an excellent way for you and your kids to spend quality family time together. You can enjoy hot summer days together in the pool have fun, and create great memories that will last a lifetime.

Conclusion

Owning a swimming pool is a move towards a healthier life for your kids. It will help them become more interested in sports and encourage them to establish healthy lifestyle habits that will help them grow and develop into well-shaped adults.


Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

  • MADISON, C. (2019) Health Benefits of Swimming [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article449.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Cynthia Madison is a young blogger and economics and marketing graduate.