Children being held back at school because of their sedentary lifestyles – Children Need Movement!

by Susan Heron Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin / Paediatric Physiotherapist

Research conducted in a reception class at a school in the West Midlands by former headmaster, Pete Griffin and the Institute for Neurophysiological  Psychology  in Chester found the following: 

• Nearly a third of four and five-year-olds struggled with tasks such as balancing on one leg and crawling 
• The children who struggled with the basic physical exercises were significantly more likely to fall behind academically.

Sixty children in reception classes at a school in the West Midlands were given 14 short tests, including asking them to balance on one leg for three seconds and crawl a short distance.

The study found 30 per cent of pupils showed signs of physical immaturity and a further 42 per cent some signs of delays in development. Some children even appeared not to have lost primitive baby reflexes, such as their arms and head extending when their head moves to the side.
 
The study, carried out by former primary headmaster Pete Griffin in conjunction with the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, found that of pupils in the bottom half of the group for physical maturity, 77 per cent were in the lowest two groups for academic ability.
 
The researchers suggested that children increasingly spend their early years sitting in front of screens and being ferried around in prams and car seats, with fewer opportunities to roll, climb, crawl and enjoy rough-and-tumble play. 

Mr Griffin said: ‘The main issue is that children don’t have the same kind of physical challenge and upbringing they might have had 40 or 50 years ago. Children are strapped into travel systems and are not physically picked up as much. Babies also spend less time on the floor learning to roll and crawl. There’s less opportunity to climb, to roll, to jump.’ 

Mr Griffin also commented that the rise of screen-based entertainment was likely to be having a ‘dramatic effect’, both because it led to sedentary lifestyles and stunted concentration. ‘There’s less creativity involved in playing on the screen or watching TV,’ he noted.
 
Mr Griffin added that the pressures of today’s exam-focused schooling meant that children with immature physical skills were less likely to catch up.
 
This research is interesting, especially when looked at in tandem with other research on child development.  Shumway-Cook and Woollacott, both established researchers in the field of neuroscience, demonstrated that a child’s balance system (postural control mechanism) does not fully mature until approximately seven years of age and even then there is further refinement throughout life, especially in the teenage years (1).
 
In addition, a child’s sensory processing or sensory organisation ability is not mature until about seven years of age (2).  A child with good sensory organisation will be more able to filter out unwanted sensory stimulation i.e. Classroom lighting or sounds and prioritise the sensory information they need for the task.
 
As both of these processes are refined and developed through movement. Hence children need movement! 

Tatty Bumpkin class at Wobble Farm!

Without the opportunity for regular activity, these two fundamental processes of postural control and sensory organisation are at risk of not maturing as expected. As a consequence the child may have to expend more of their energy and conscious thought on skills which should be largely automatic i.e. sitting on a chair, looking up to the whiteboard and back to their paper, filtering out unwanted classroom noise or ignoring a slightly itchy label. If this is the case then the child will have less energy or focus to learn.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2229567/The-children-held-school-lazy-lifestyles-mean-t-stand-leg.html#ixzz2BiyayKUr

Read more: http://www.inpp.org.uk/http://www.inpp.org.uk/

1. Shumway- Cook, A . Woollacott, M. (2007) Motor Control – Translating research into practice.

2. Ayres,J. (2005) Sensory Integration and the Child