The Impact of Sports on Child Development

than other children who don’t. When children engage more in sporting activities the more, they master the particular skills that are needed in the particular sport. (Cahill et al. 1993)

The stability and time of how children engage in sports across their adolescent years are very important. Research suggests that sporadic participation during early years or during middle and high school years is not more beneficial than continuous dedication. Making the children to be committed over time highly facilitates the likelihood of the children being able to overcome challenges in their performance. Sporting activities act like a platform where children can interact with their peers. This helps the children to learn how to cope with many interpersonal challenges of working with other people. This is a very important aspect of developing and initiating and an internal strength that lasts for a very long time in the child’s life. (Eime et al. 2013)

Children participation in sporting activities helps them to achieve the aspect of balance between activities. Research has shown that greater developmental gain is attained by children who spend time in activities other than their dominant sports pursuit.

Successful acquisition of skills at an early age of a child improves or enhances the likelihood that the child will participate in the sport in future. This is because children are able to master the skills and learn to love the sport; hence they may want to do it for the rest of their lives.

Children who engage in sports have a lower likelihood to become obese. Statistics show that many of the adults who are obese were also obese in their young ages. If children engage in sports, they

will lower the likelihood of being obese at their later stages of life. In addition to sports physical health, children's participation in sports also has other high-risk health-related behaviors for both boys and girls. A study, which was conducted in the year 2000 that investigated the relationship between participation in sports and health-related behaviors in the United States showed that; both sex children who participated in sports were more likely to eat fruits and they were less likely to engage in drugs. This shows that children who participate in sporting activities are less likely to take health risk than children who don’t (Eime et al. 2013).

Children who involve themselves in sports are healthier than children who don’t according to research.

Sports have been proven to assist in breaking the vicious cycle of inactivity and unhealthy lifestyle by enhancing caloric use. Health research has shown that children who participate in high level of activities and improved academic achievement decreased the risk of heart disease and diabetes had an improved weight control, they had less psycho- logic dysfunction. On the other hand, children who were obese often experience a diminished quality of life; learning is difficult, and they have decreased self-confidence and were socially discriminated.

According to research, Engaging children in sporting activities have shown to better their behaviors. This is because children who engage in sports have less time idle. As the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. When children are engaged in sports the time they spend away from the entertainment media is increased. We all know that the entertainment media, especially the social media, have many negative effects on children's behavior. Sporting activities

minimizes unnecessary snacking of children (Donaldson et al. 1993).

When children engage in organized sports, they develop the sense of belonging. This is because they feel like part of a team. This greatly enhances the Child’s esteem and confidence.

Negative

When children engage in sports, they are exposed to the risk of physical injury. According to research over three million children who are under the age of 14 incur injuries as a result of sporting activities. This may occur while the children are trained or during the actual competition. Injuries such as tears of the anterior cruciate ligament which is abbreviated as ACL are more likely to occur in young athletes due to the rigors of practice. Other injuries include; broken bones which may occur as a result of falling and other factors, injuries to muscles which occur as a result of repetitive motion due to overuse of specific muscles or joints.

Participation in sporting activities requires the children to have sacrificed a lot of their time. This is because they have to practice to master the particular skills and they have to travel to where the competition is taking place.

Children may face undue pressure most especially from parents, coaches and even other players who want them to engage in activities they are not interested in. Children may also want to participate in a level they are not comfortable with hence they place excessive amounts of pressure on themselves. When the children pressure themselves so much, this causes stress if they are unable to achieve what they want. This, in turn, affects negatively other activities the child is engaging in. (Donaldson et al. 1993)

When children participate in organized sports

activities, they are exposed to other children who may exhibit undesirable behavior. This may negatively influence the behavior of the children (Donaldson et al. 1993).

We can conclude that sports have both negative and positive effects in children. The importance of engaging in sports include increased physical and mental health; healthy competition among peers and the sense of belonging Sporting activities help the child to avoid some health problems like obesity and others at a later age. The child also gains self-esteem due to the development of a sense of belonging they feel as part of a team. There are also the negative impacts of sports participation for children; physical injuries, bad influence from other children who participate in the game, time commitment and undue pressure.

References

1. Eime, R. M., Young, J. A., Harvey, J. T., Charity, M. J., & Payne, W. R. (2013). A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for children and adolescents: informing the development of a conceptual model of health through sport. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 10(1), 1.
2. Cahill, B. R., & Pearl, A. J. (1993). Intensive participation in children's sports. Human Kinetics Publishers.
3. Donaldson, S. J., & Ronan, K. R. (2006). The Effects of Sports Participation on Young Adolescents’Emotional Well-being. Adolescence, 41(162), 369.