daily exercise in schools essay

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Your Health

Exercise helps students in the classroom.

Patti Neighmond

Increasingly, researchers are finding that brain activity and brain development are enhanced by physical exercise. It now appears that exercise can help kids learn at school.

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Essay on Importance of Exercise: Benefits for Students

This article includes an essay on the importance of exercise in 1000 words for school and college class students. Also, explained points like the meaning of exercise, its benefits for students and improvement in life.

Table of Contents

Essay on Importance of Exercise (1000 Words)

School and college students can take help from this article to write paragraphs on the importance of exercise.

What is Exercise?

One must be both physically and mentally fit. Exercising plays an essential role in our lives. It helps us in staying physically meet. Out physical body is meant to maneuver. If we don’t exercise or walk daily, then we’d quickly get susceptible to different diseases overtime.

How will Exercise Improve You?

With exercise, the brain cells are going to be released frequently, which helps in the production of the cells in the hippocampus. Hippocampus is that a part of the brain which helps in learning and controls the memory.

Benefits of Exercise

The recondition and reviving of our full-body is helped by doing exercise. It helps us to form our muscles strong. Exercise also prevents obesity or helps in losing the load. It maintains youthfulness and delays the method of aging.

1. Morning Walk

2. gymnastic exercises.

Under the guidance of an experienced trainer, only one must do gymnastic exercises. Gymnastics could also be positively dangerous to weak constitutions.

4. Free-Hand Exercises

5. aerobics.

Aerobics means using or requiring more oxygen. These exercises are done to form the body to consume more oxygen. Aerobics help to enhance the condition of the cardiovascular system and, therefore, the heart Example: Cycling, Swimming, etc.

6. Anaerobic

7. flexibility.

We should always give proper time to try to exercise because maybe a famous proverb, ”those who don’t have time for exercise will need to find for illness”.

If you have strong muscles and ligaments, you’re having very little chance of joint and lower back pain, as all of your bones are getting to be in proper alignment. The coordination and balance of your body also will get improved.

Importance of Exercises

To achieve life, both mental and physical development is vital. Therefore exercises are essential for the overall growth in one’s life. A balance should be maintained between his work, rest, and activities.

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Essay on Exercise

Students are often asked to write an essay on Exercise in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Exercise

Introduction.

Exercise is a vital part of our daily routine. It keeps us fit, healthy, and energetic. It’s not just for adults, but equally important for children too.

Benefits of Exercise

Exercise strengthens our body, improves our mental health, and boosts our immune system. It helps us maintain a healthy weight and reduces the risk of diseases.

Types of Exercise

There are various types of exercises like jogging, swimming, cycling, and yoga. Choose the one you enjoy the most and make it a part of your routine.

Exercise is not a choice, but a necessity. So, make sure to exercise daily and live a healthy life.

250 Words Essay on Exercise

Introduction to exercise.

Exercise, a crucial component of a healthy lifestyle, is often overlooked in today’s fast-paced world. It is an effective tool to combat various health-related issues, enhance mental well-being, and promote overall vitality.

Physical Benefits of Exercise

Exercise is a powerful weapon against chronic diseases. Regular physical activity can help manage weight, reduce the risk of heart disease, and strengthen bones and muscles. It also improves cardiovascular health, enhancing the body’s ability to transport and utilize oxygen, thus increasing energy levels.

Mental and Emotional Benefits

Exercise’s impact extends beyond the physical. It releases endorphins, the body’s natural mood elevators, thereby reducing stress and anxiety. Regular physical activity can also improve sleep quality, boost self-esteem, and enhance cognitive function.

The Importance of Regular Exercise

Consistency is key in reaping the benefits of exercise. Regularity, rather than intensity, ensures long-term health benefits. It is advisable to incorporate different forms of exercise such as aerobics, strength training, and flexibility exercises for a balanced regimen.

In conclusion, exercise is a vital aspect of maintaining optimal health and well-being. It fosters physical health, promotes mental wellness, and enhances quality of life. As college students, adopting a regular exercise routine can help manage academic stress and promote overall productivity. Hence, it is essential to prioritize exercise in our daily lives.

500 Words Essay on Exercise

The multifaceted benefits of exercise.

Exercise is a cornerstone of physical health. Regular physical activity strengthens the heart and cardiovascular system, reduces the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, and boosts metabolic functions. It also improves muscular strength and endurance, contributing to better body composition and bone health. Exercise can help manage weight, reducing the risk of obesity and associated health conditions. Importantly, it also enhances flexibility and coordination, which can reduce the risk of injuries.

Mental Health and Exercise

Beyond physical health, exercise significantly impacts mental wellbeing. Regular physical activity has been linked to reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety. It stimulates the release of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers and mood elevators. Exercise can also improve sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression, and anxiety. These benefits can be especially salient for college students, who often grapple with stress and mental health issues.

Exercise and Cognitive Function

Social benefits of exercise.

Exercise also offers social benefits. Participating in sports, joining a gym, or attending a group fitness class can help forge new friendships and foster a sense of community. These social interactions can enhance self-esteem and provide a supportive environment to share common interests and goals. For college students, this can be an effective way to combat feelings of isolation or homesickness.

In conclusion, exercise is not just about improving physical fitness or losing weight—it is a comprehensive tool for enhancing overall wellbeing. It benefits the body, mind, and social life, making it an essential component of a balanced lifestyle. As college students, incorporating regular exercise into our routine can help us manage academic pressures, maintain mental health, and foster meaningful social connections. The importance of exercise cannot be overstated, and understanding its multifaceted benefits is the first step towards a healthier, happier life.

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Physical Education and Physical Activity

Schools are in a unique position to help students attain the nationally recommended 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. 1 Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescence is important for promoting lifelong health and well-being and preventing various health conditions. 1–3

To learn more about benefits of physical activity, physical activity behaviors of young people, and recommendations, visit Physical Activity Facts . For more information on the Physical Activity Guidelines , 2 nd edition, visit Physical Activity Guidelines for School-Aged Children and Adolescents . Find out what CDC is doing nationwide to help more adults, children, and adolescents become physically active.

Figure 1. The 5 components of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program PDF [PDF – 247 KB] | JPEG | PNG

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program Framework [PDF – 3 MB]

This document provides school health professionals, school administrators, physical education teachers, other school staff, and parents with detailed information on the components of a CSPAP framework. It identifies key professional development opportunities and resources to help schools implement the framework.

Infographic

Benefits of School-Based Physical Activity

A CSPAP can increase physical activity opportunities before, during, and after school. This graphic explains how 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can benefit a  student’s health and directly impact teachers and the community.

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program: A Guide for Schools [PDF – 6 MB]

CDC, in collaboration with SHAPE America, developed a step-by-step guide for schools and school districts to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive school physical activity programs. The guide can be read and used by an existing school health council or wellness committee, or by a new group or committee made up of physical education coordinators and teachers, classroom teachers, school administrators, recess supervisors, before- and after-school program supervisors, parents, and community members. It can be used to develop a new comprehensive school physical activity program or assess and improve an existing one.

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program: A Guide for Schools [EPUB – 5 MB]

The eBook can be viewed on your iOS (iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch) or Android device with an eReader. An eReader is an app that can display eBooks on your mobile device or tablet.

If you do not have an eReader app installed on your iOS (iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch) device, search the App Store for an eReader, like iBooks. If you do not have an eReader app installed on your Android device, search the Google Play Store for an eReader. After an eReader app is installed on your device, you can download the eBook and open it on your device.

The purpose of this module  is to familiarize you with the components of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program and the process for developing, implementing, and evaluating one. After this module , you should be able to take the next steps to begin the process of developing a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program .

The course objectives are for you to:

• Understand the importance and benefits of youth physical activity.
• Recognize the components of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program.
• Learn the process for developing, implementing, and evaluating a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program .
• US Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2 nd edition. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2018.
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community: A Collaborative Approach to Learning and Health. 2014. Retrieved from  http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/publications/wholechild/wscc-a-collaborative-approach.pdf [PDF – 2.24 MB] .
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School health guidelines to promote healthy eating and physical activity. MMWR. 2011;60(No. RR-5):28–33.

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• Importance Of Exercises Essay

Importance of Exercise Essay

500+ words essay on the importance of exercise.

We all know that exercise is extremely important in our daily lives, but we may not know why or what exercise can do. It’s important to remember that we have evolved from nomadic ancestors who spent all their time moving around in search of food and shelter, travelling large distances on a daily basis. Our bodies are designed and have evolved to be regularly active. Over time, people may come across problems if they sit down all day at a desk or in front of the TV and minimise the amount of exercise they do. Exercise is a bodily movement performed in order to develop or maintain physical fitness and good health overall. Exercise leads to the physical exertion of sufficient intensity, duration and frequency to achieve or maintain vigour and health. This essay on the importance of exercise will help students become familiar with the several benefits of doing exercise regularly. They must go through this essay so as to get an idea of how to write essays on similar topics.

Need of Exercise

The human body is like a complex and delicate machine which comprises several small parts. A slight malfunction of one part leads to the breakdown of the machine. In a similar way, if such a situation arises in the human body, it also leads to malfunctioning of the body. Exercise is one of the healthy lifestyles which contributes to optimum health and quality of life. People who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of death. By doing exercise, active people increase their life expectancy by two years compared to inactive people. Regular exercise and good physical fitness enhance the quality of life in many ways. Physical fitness and exercise can help us to look good, feel good, and enjoy life. Moreover, exercise provides an enjoyable way to spend leisure time.

Exercise helps a person develop emotional balance and maintain a strong self-image. As people get older, exercise becomes more important. This is because, after the age of 30, the heart’s blood pumping capacity declines at a rate of about 8 per cent each decade. Exercise is also vital for a child’s overall development. Exercising helps to maintain a healthy weight by stoking our metabolism, utilizing and burning the extra calories.

Types of Exercise

There are three broad intensities of exercise:

1) Light exercise – Going for a walk is an example of light exercise. In this, the exerciser is able to talk while exercising.

2) Moderate exercise – Here, the exerciser feels slightly out of breath during the session. Examples could be walking briskly, cycling moderately or walking up a hill.

3) Vigorous exercise – While performing this exercise, the exerciser is panting during the activity. The exerciser feels his/her body being pushed much nearer its limit compared to the other two intensities. This could include running, cycling fast, and heavy-weight training.

Importance of Exercise

Regular exercise increases our fitness level and physical stamina. It plays a crucial role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It can help with blood lipid abnormalities, diabetes and obesity. Moreover, it can help to reduce blood pressure. Regular exercise substantially reduces the risk of dying of coronary heart disease and eases the risk of stroke and colon cancer. People of all age groups benefit from exercising.

Exercise can be effective in improving the mental well-being of human beings. It relieves human stress and anxiety. When we come back from work or school, we feel exhausted after a whole day of work. If we can go out to have a walk or jog for at least 30 minutes, it makes us feel happy and relaxed. A number of studies have found that a lifestyle that includes exercise helps alleviate depression. Those who can maintain regular exercise will also reduce their chances of seeing a doctor. Without physical activity, the body’s muscles lose their strength, endurance and ability to function properly. Regular exercise keeps all parts of the body in continuous activity. It improves overall health and fitness, as well as decreases the risk of many chronic diseases. Therefore, physical exercise is very important in our life.

Exercise can play a significant role in keeping the individual, society, community and nation wealthy. If the citizens of a country are healthy, the country is sure to touch heights in every facet of life. The country’s healthy generation can achieve the highest marks in various fields and thereby enable their country to win laurels and glory at the international level. The first step is always the hardest. However, if we can overcome it, and exercise for 21 days continuously, it will be a new beginning for a healthy life.

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Frequently Asked Questions on the Importance of Exercises Essay

What are the benefits of exercising regularly.

Regular exercise helps in the relaxation of the mind and body and keeps the body fit. It improves flexibility and blood circulation.

Which are some of the easy exercises that can be done at home?

Sit-ups, bicycle crunches, squats, lunges and planks are examples of easy exercises which can be done at home without the help of costly equipment.

Is cycling an effective form of exercise?

Cycling is a low-impact exercise and acts as a good muscle workout.

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Keeping Physical Education in Schools Essay

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Introduction

Physical education aids in significant health benefits, physical education improves academic performance, physical education is not hard to maintain.

Physical education is a process geared towards physical development through exercise instructions which one applies to achieve a healthy lifestyle. These exercises range from sports, games, dance, aerobics and other gymnastic programs. Both quality and quantity of physical education programs are important in schools in forming an all-rounded student.

Schools should incorporate effective physical education programs for all learners on a daily basis to ensure fitness in the students. Young children require creative exercises to avoid boredom, and the trainers should involve the children in coming up with the programs to ensure that their ideas are incorporated in the regimen. This will make the physical exercises fun to carry out.

Apart from participating in the physical education programs, the students need to be taught on the importance of the various exercises so that they inculcate the culture of physical fitness into their life-time fitness programs.

Most health experts recommend an average of one hour of moderate to strenuous exercises for school going children (Marion, 2009). Physical education is an important activity in the public schools and should be allowed to remain an integral part of the curriculum.

Physical education is an important aspect of a child’s comprehensive growth process. The incorporation of the program into the school curriculum will impact positively the school children and help them adopt the activities taught as an integral part of their endeavor to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Regular physical activities have been found to result in healthier life with lowered risk of preventable conditions such as high blood pressure, some forms of cancers and diabetes. Physical exercises on a regular basis lead to a better cardiovascular endurance and also lower blood pressure to normal homeostatic levels.

With the emergence of new modern forms of entertainment such as computer games, play stations and internet based games, many children have neglected the physically demanding entertainment programs. This has increased the number of those with cases of child obesity to epidemic levels in America and other European countries (Marx & Wooley, 1998).

It would be advisable to incorporate a culture of involvement in physical exercises in young children to avert such disasters as chronic, cardiovascular diseases and disabilities. Many studies have shown that exercise helps greatly reduce unnecessary body fat and a corresponding increase in lean muscle mass which being elements of good health.

As schools aim to achieve high academic success, they should also focus on improving the welfare of the learners by encouraging healthy lifestyles which is achievable through physical activities and healthy diets. Physically fit learners have low incidences of depression, anxiety and also show high levels of self-esteem as well as improved socialization ability in comparison to their peers (Carlie, 2011).

According to research carried out by Active Living Research group, on how policies and environmental factors affect the performance of learners in schools, the less the time is allocated for physical education, the lower the academic performance is recorded. All schools under the study which had comprehensive exercise and physical training programs had a better performance in academics even with less instruction time in class work.

There is a wide range of exercise models learners can use that do not require expensive facilities. For instance, learners can involve in activities such as aerobics, running and playing. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) needs to be reviewed to ensure learners have adequate time for exercise as opposed to long hours in classwork (University of Michigan Health System, 2011).

The NCLB completely failed to capture the importance of exercise in the general development of school going children. The anticipated improvement in academics has not been realized. This has been attributed to academic fatigue and decreased physical fitness in children among other factors, which always improve concentration capacity.

A controlled exercise program by adults or trained instructors ensures the school going children carry out their exercises in well protected environments and only according to outlined guidelines.

As numerous studies have shown a link between good academic performance and exercising, schools should strive to invest in physical education. Furthermore, many talents in children such as football skills and athletics prowess are discovered through these programs (Stewart, &Mars, 2010).

Apart from the improved academic performance, physical education contributes to developing responsible citizens. Many studies have indicated a drop in cases of indiscipline in children involved in physical fitness programs in comparison to those who do not.

Drug abuse is also rampant among idle students as compared to those who take part in exercise programs. The benefits accrued from physical activity go beyond academic performance and positive results have been recorded in psychosocial component of life, too (University of Michigan Health System, 2011).

The No Child Left behind Act (NCLB) is one of the reasons the physical education program has received little attention. This has in turn resulted in higher rates of obesity in the country with the government spending billions of dollars to counter obesity-related complications in school going children. It is estimated that by 2018, the United States will have spent up to $344 billion to counter obesity related complications.

This constitutes about twenty one percent of the health sector’s budgets. This can be effectively avoided by investing in physical education among the school going children who make up the greatest percentage of obesity cases. Ironically it would only cost $ 500, 000 to reintroduce the physical education programs in schools.

Schools facing budgetary constraints to purchase physical education facilities could easily overcome this challenge by soliciting for funds from well wishers or organize fund raisers (Marion, 2009). The government needs to allocate funds for physical education in schools in addition to constituting legislation that would make physical education as part of the curriculum.

In the United States, deaths arising from poor diet and inactivity hit the 300,000 mark annually. Studies indicated that this problem begins in early childhood and adolescents stages of life. This is the time most people are schooling and, therefore, investing in physical education as an integral part of the curriculum, would have tremendous impact on changing the lifestyles of millions of American citizens.

The government should prioritize in areas of creating awareness among school going children, teachers, parents and guardians to inculcate a culture of healthy living among all people. The government should also involve medical and physical fitness experts in formulating policies and making recommendations regarding physical education programs in schools.

As has been indicated by the united states department of health and human services, physical activeness would lead to lowered expenditures by the government in matters health since the benefits accrued from it reduce the risks of disease incidences.

In one swing, a constant physical activity which is apparently an enjoyable experience has numerous health benefits that only a fool can ignore. Improved strength and endurance, controlled weight, healthy bones and muscles, reduced anxiety and stress as well as improved self-esteem, maintenance of low levels of cholesterol and blood pressure (Marx & Wooley, 1998).

The benefits associated with physical activities surpass the disadvantages. From improved health to improved academic performance and the improved socialization powers, the advantages of physical education are limitless. It is the prerogative of the parents and guardians to ensure that the children involve in responsible physical activities and remove the fear of injuries or time wasting from the element of physical education.

It is wrong to presume that for effective physical fitness, one has to own state of the art facilities as there are many forms of physical exercises. To also assume that for better academic performance, a learner requires long study hours is wrong and as the old adage goes “All work without play makes Jack a dull boy”

The importance of physical education can not be underestimated. There is a need to ensure both quality and quantity of physical education in school programs. The government should also formulate policies and legislation geared towards promotion of physical fitness. Guidelines given by expatriate bodies should be followed since their advice is based on reliable studies.

For instance, the American Heart Association and the National Association of State Boards of Education recommend no less than two hours of physical education each week. The government ought to offer training techniques to instructors and post them to all schools.

In addition it should avail any necessary facilities to ensure successful physical training programs. Owing to the reluctance displayed by both school administrations and the learners themselves in matters of physical education, the government could make it compulsory and examinable.

Carlie, D. (2011). Physical Education (P.E.). Education/Budget Cuts . Web.

Marion, S.C. (2009). OTL: PE Left Behind . Web.

Marx, E. & Wooley, S. (1998). Health Is Academic: A Guide to Coordinated School Health Programs. New York: Teacher’s College Press.

Stewart, G.T.&Mars, H. (2010). Why We Should Not Cut P.E. Educational Leadership . 67(4). pp.60-65.

University of Michigan Health System (2011). Gym gone but not forgotten? Parents want more physical activity at school for kids. Web.

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Health and Fitness Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on health and fitness.

We have always heard the word ‘health’ and ‘fitness’. We use it ourselves when we say phrases like ‘health is wealth’ and ‘fitness is the key’. What does the word health really mean? It implies the idea of ‘being well’. We call a person healthy and fit when he/she function well physically as well as mentally.

Factors Affecting our Health and Fitness

Good health and fitness is not something which one can achieve entirely on our own. It depends on their physical environment and the quality of food intake. We live in villages, towns, and cities.

In such places, even our physical environment affects our health. Therefore, our social responsibility of pollution-free environment directly affects our health. Our day-to-day habits also determine our fitness level. The quality of food, air, water all helps in building our fitness level.

Role of Nutritious Diet on our Health and Fitness

The first thing about where fitness starts is food. We should take nutritious food. Food rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates is very essential. Protein is necessary for body growth. Carbohydrates provide the required energy in performing various tasks. Vitamin and minerals help in building bones and boosting our immune system.

However, taking food in uneven quantity is not good for the body. Taking essential nutrients in adequate amount is called a balanced diet. Taking a balanced diet keep body and mind strong and healthy. Good food helps in better sleep, proper brain functioning and healthy body weight.

Include vegetables, fruits, and pulses in daily diet. One must have a three-course meal. Having roughage helps in cleaning inner body organs. Healthy food habit prevents various diseases. Reducing the amount of fat in the diet prevents cholesterol and heart diseases.

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Impact of Exercise on our Health

Routine exercise helps improve our muscle power. Exercise helps in good oxygen supply and blood flow throughout the body. Heart and lungs work efficiently. Our bones get strong and joints have the pain free movement.

We should daily spend at least twenty minutes in our exercise. Daily morning walk improves our fitness level. We should avoid strenuous Gym activities. Exercise burns our fat and controls the cholesterol level in the body. Various outdoor games like cricket, football, volleyball, etc keeps our body fit. Regular exercise maintains our body shape.

Meditation, Yoga, and Health

Meditation and yoga are part of our life from ancient time. They not only make us physically fit but mentally strong as well. Meditation improves our concentration level. Our mind gets relaxed and thinking becomes positive.

A healthy mind is key for a healthy body. Yoga makes us stressfree and improves the endurance power of the mind. Yoga controls our blood pressure. With yoga, a strong bond with nature is established. Meditation is considered the best way to fight depression.

A person stays happier when he/she is fit and healthy. A fit and healthy person is less prone to chronic diseases. The healthy mind reacts better in a pressure situation. The self-confidence of a person is increased. Risk of heart failure is reduced drastically. With the increased immunity power body could fight cancerous cells. The intensity of the fracture is decreased with regular exercise.

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Real-Life Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity

On this page:

Why is physical activity important?

Emotional benefits of exercise.

Exercise and physical activity are good for just about everyone, including older adults. No matter your health and physical abilities, you can gain a lot by staying active. In fact, studies show that “taking it easy” is risky. Often, inactivity is more to blame than age when older people lose the ability to do things on their own. Lack of physical activity also can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and more use of medicines for a variety of illnesses.

Including all 4 types of exercise can benefit a wide range of areas of your life. Staying active can help you:

• Keep and improve your strength so you can stay independent
• Have more energy to do the things you want to do and reduce fatigue
• Improve your balance and lower risk of falls and injuries from falls
• Manage and prevent some diseases like arthritis, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and 8 types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer
• Sleep better at home
• Reduce levels of stress and anxiety
• Reach or maintain a healthy weight and reduce risk of excessive weight gain
• Control your blood pressure
• Possibly improve or maintain some aspects of cognitive function , such as your ability to shift quickly between tasks or plan an activity
• Perk up your mood and reduce feelings of depression

Research has shown that exercise is not only good for your physical health, it also supports emotional and mental health. You can exercise with a friend and get the added benefit of emotional support. So, next time you’re feeling down, anxious, or stressed, try to get up and start moving!

Physical activity can help:

• Reduce feelings of depression and stress, while improving your mood and overall emotional well-being
• Increase your energy level
• Improve sleep
• Empower you to feel more in control

In addition, exercise and physical activity may possibly improve or maintain some aspects of cognitive function , such as your ability to shift quickly between tasks, plan an activity, and ignore irrelevant information.

Here are some exercise ideas to help you lift your mood:

• Walking, bicycling, or dancing. Endurance activities increase your breathing, get your heart pumping, and boost chemicals in your body that may improve mood.
• Yoga. This mind and body practice typically combines physical postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation.
• Tai Chi. This "moving meditation" involves shifting the body slowly, gently, and precisely, while breathing deeply.
• Activities you enjoy. Whether it’s gardening, playing tennis, kicking around a soccer ball with your grandchildren, or something else, choose an activity you want to do, not one you have to do.

You may also be interested in

• Finding tips to help stay motivated to exercise
• Exploring safety tips for exercising outdoors
• Reading about the four types of exercise

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For more information.

YMCA 800-872-9622 [email protected] www.ymca.net

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 800-232-4636 888-232-6348 (TTY) [email protected] www.cdc.gov

MedlinePlus National Library of Medicine       www.medlineplus.gov

This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date.

Content reviewed: April 3, 2020

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Physical Activity and Sports—Real Health Benefits: A Review with Insight into the Public Health of Sweden

Christer malm.

1 Sports Medicine Unit, Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden; [email protected]

Johan Jakobsson

Andreas isaksson.

2 Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Solna, Sweden; [email protected]

Positive effects from sports are achieved primarily through physical activity, but secondary effects bring health benefits such as psychosocial and personal development and less alcohol consumption. Negative effects, such as the risk of failure, injuries, eating disorders, and burnout, are also apparent. Because physical activity is increasingly conducted in an organized manner, sport’s role in society has become increasingly important over the years, not only for the individual but also for public health. In this paper, we intend to describe sport’s physiological and psychosocial health benefits, stemming both from physical activity and from sport participation per se. This narrative review summarizes research and presents health-related data from Swedish authorities. It is discussed that our daily lives are becoming less physically active, while organized exercise and training increases. Average energy intake is increasing, creating an energy surplus, and thus, we are seeing an increasing number of people who are overweight, which is a strong contributor to health problems. Physical activity and exercise have significant positive effects in preventing or alleviating mental illness, including depressive symptoms and anxiety- or stress-related disease. In conclusion, sports can be evolving, if personal capacities, social situation, and biological and psychological maturation are taken into account. Evidence suggests a dose–response relationship such that being active, even to a modest level, is superior to being inactive or sedentary. Recommendations for healthy sports are summarized.

1. Introduction

Sport is a double-edged sword regarding effects on health. Positive effects are achieved primarily through physical activity, which is the main part of most sports. Many secondary effects of sport also bring health benefits, such as psychosocial development of both young [ 1 ] and old [ 2 ], personal development [ 3 ], later onset, and less consumption of alcohol [ 4 , 5 ]. Finally, those who play sports have a higher level of physical activity later in life [ 6 ], and through sport, knowledge of nutrition, exercise, and health can be developed [ 7 ]. Negative effects include the risk of failure leading to poor mental health [ 8 , 9 ], risk of injury [ 10 , 11 ], eating disorders [ 12 ], burnout [ 13 ], and exercise-induced gastrointestinal tract discomfort [ 14 ]. In sport, there are unfortunately also reports of physical and psychological abuse [ 15 ]. Negative aspects are more common in elite-level sports, where there is a fine balance between maximum performance and negative health. A somewhat unexpected effect of sport participation is that people submitting to planned training in some cases perform less physical activity compared to those who are exercising without a set schedule. One explanation can be a reduced spontaneous physical activity in the latter group [ 16 ]. Because physical activity is increasingly executed in an organized manner [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], sport’s role in society has become increasingly important over the years, not only for the individual but also for public health.

In this paper, we describe the health effects of sport from a physiological and psychological perspective, related both to physical activity and added values of sport per se. Initially, brief definitions of various concepts related to physical activity and health are given. This is then followed by: (1) A brief description of how physical activity and training affect our body from a physiological perspective; (2) a report on the health effects of physical activity and training; and (3) sport’s specific influences on the various dimensions of health. We chose to discuss the subject from an age-related perspective, separating children/adolescents, adults, and the elderly, as well as separating for sex in each age group.

2. Definitions of Physical Activity, Exercise, Training, Sport, and Health

Definitions and terms are based on “Physical activity in the prevention and treatment of disease” (FYSS, www.fyss.se [Swedish] [ 20 ]), World Health Organization (WHO) [ 21 ] and the US Department of Human Services [ 22 ]. The definition of physical activity in FYSS is: “Physical activity is defined purely physiologically, as all body movement that increases energy use beyond resting levels”. Health is defined according to the World Health Organization (WHO) as: “[…] a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” [ 21 ].

Physical activity can occur spontaneously (leisure/work/transport) or organized and be divided according to purpose: Physical exercise is aimed primarily at improving health and physical capacity. Physical training is aimed primarily at increasing the individual’s maximum physical capacity and performance [ 23 ]. Physical inactivity is described as the absence of body movement, when energy consumption approximates resting levels. People who do not meet recommendations for physical activity are considered physically inactive and are sometimes called “sedentary”. Sport can be organized by age, sex, level of ambition, weight or other groupings [ 24 ]. Sport can also be spontaneous [ 7 , 17 ] and defined as a subset of exercises undertaken individually or as a part of a team, where participants have a defined goal [ 7 ]. General recommendations for physical activity are found in Table 1 , not considering everyday activities. One can meet the daily recommendations for physical activity by brief, high-intensity exercise, and remaining physically inactive for the rest of the day, thereby creating a “polarization” of physical activity: Having a high dose of conscious physical training, despite having a low energy expenditure in normal life due to high volumes of sedentary time. Polarization of physical activity may lead to increased risk of poor health despite meeting the recommendations for physical activity [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. During most of our lives, energy expenditure is greater in normal daily life than in sport, physical training, and exercise, with the exceptions of children and the elderly, where planned physical activity is more important [ 28 ].

Recommendations regarding physical activity for different target groups. Note that additional health effects can be achieved if, in addition to these recommendations, the amount of physical activity increases, either by increasing the intensity or duration or a combination of both.

Compiled from FYSS 2017 ( www.fyss.se ) and WHO 2017 ( www.who.int ).

3. Aerobic and Muscle-Strengthening Physical Activity

Physical activity is categorized according to FYSS as: (1) Aerobic physical activity and (2) muscle-strengthening physical activity. Physical activity in everyday life and exercise training is mainly an aerobic activity, where a majority of energy production occurs via oxygen-dependent pathways. Aerobic physical activity is the type of activity typically associated with stamina, fitness, and the biggest health benefits [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Muscle-strengthening physical activity is referred to in everyday language as “strength training” or “resistance training” and is a form of physical exercise/training that is primarily intended to maintain or improve various forms of muscle strength and increase or maintain muscle mass [ 32 ]. Sometimes, another category is defined: Muscle-enhancing physical activity, important for maintenance or improvement of coordination and balance, especially in the elderly [ 33 ]. According to these definitions, muscle-strengthening activities primarily involve the body’s anaerobic (without oxygen) energy systems, proportionally more as intensity increases.

Exercise intensity can be expressed in absolute or relative terms. Absolute intensity means the physical work (for example; Watts [W], kg, or metabolic equivalent [MET]), while relative intensity is measured against the person’s maximum capacity or physiology (for example; percentage of maximum heart rate (%HR), rate of perceived exhaustion (RPE), W·kg −1 or relative oxygen uptake in L·min −1 ·kg −1 (VO 2 )). In terms of recommendations to the public, as in Table 1 , the intensity is often described in subjective terms (“makes you breathe harder” for moderate intensity, and “makes you puff and pant” for vigorous intensity) [ 27 ]. While objective criteria such as heart rate and accelerometry will capture the intensity of activity, they may not distinguish between different types of physical activity behaviors [ 34 ]. FYSS defines low intensity as 20%–39% of VO 2 max, <40 %HR, 1.5–2.9 METs; moderate intensity as 40%–59% of VO 2 max, 60–74 %HR, 3.0–5.9 METs, and vigorous intensity as 60%–89% of VO 2 max, 75–94 %HR, 6.0–8.9 METs. Absolute intensity, however, can vary greatly between individuals where a patient with heart disease may have a maximal capacity of <3 MET, and an elite athlete >20 MET [ 35 ].

4. How does the Body Adapt to Physical Activity and Training?

Adaption to physical activity and training is a complex physiological process, but may, in the context of this paper, be simplified by a fundamental basic principle:” The general adaptation syndrome (GAS)” [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. This principle assumes that physical activity disturbs the body’s physiological balance, which the body then seeks to restore, all in a dose-related response relationship. The overload principle states that if exercise intensity is too low, overload is not reached to induce desired physiological adaptations, whereas an intensity too high will result in fatigue and possibly overtraining. Thus, for adaptation to occur, greater than normal stress must be induced, interspersed with sufficient recovery periods for restoration of physiological balance [ 39 ]. During and immediately after physical exercise/training, functions of affected tissues and systems are impaired, manifested as temporarily decreased performance. You feel tired. In order to gradually improve performance capacity, repeated cycles of adequate overload and recovery are required [ 40 ]. In practice, positive effects can be seen after a relatively short period of a few weeks, but more substantial improvements if the training is maintained for a longer period.

As a rule of thumb, it is assumed that all people can adapt to physical activity and exercise, but the degree of adaptation depends on many factors, including age, heredity, the environment, and diet [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. The hereditary factor (genetics) may be the most critical for adaptation [ 45 ]. The degree of adaptation also depends on how the person in question trained previously; a well-trained athlete usually does not have the same relative improvement as an untrained one. Even if training is thought to be specific to mode, intensity, and duration, there are some overlaps. For example, it has been found that strength training in some individuals contributes to a relatively large positive impact on health and endurance, effects previously associated primarily with aerobic exercise [ 46 , 47 ]. The overload principle may, if applied too vigorously in relation to a person’s individual adaptation ability, have detrimental effects, including reduced performance, injury, overtraining, and disease [ 10 ]. Training is a commodity that must be renewed; otherwise, you gradually lose achieved performance improvements [ 48 ], although some capacities, such as muscle memory, seem to persist for life [ 49 ].

General recommendations for health may be stated, but individual predispositions make general training schedules for specific performance effects unpredictable. All exercise training should be adjusted to individual purposes, goals, and circumstances.

5. Health Effects of Physical Activity and Training

Human biology requires a certain amount of physical activity to maintain good health and wellbeing. Biological adaption to life with less physical activity would take many generations. People living today have, more or less, the same requirements for physical activity as 40,000 years ago [ 50 , 51 ]. For an average man with a body weight of 70 kg, this corresponds to about 19 km daily walking in addition to everyday physical activity [ 52 ]. For most people, daily physical activity decreases, while planned, conscious exercise and training increases [ 19 , 53 ]. Unfortunately, average daily energy intake is increasing more than daily energy output, creating an energy surplus. This is one reason for the increasing number of overweight people, and a strong contributor to many health problems [ 54 ]. More sedentary living (not reaching recommended level of physical activity), combined with increased energy intake, impairs both physical and mental capabilities and increases the risk of disease. Despite this, Swedes (as an example) seemed to be as physically active and stressed but had better general health in 2015, compared to 2004 ( Figure 1 ). Compared to 2004–2007, the Swedish population in 2012–2015 reported better overall health (more county-dots are blue) and less fatigue (smaller county-dots) with similar level of physical activity (~65% indicated at least 30 min daily physical activity) and stress (~13% were stressed).

Selected physical and mental health indicators of a Sweden cohort, in relation to the degree of physical activity for the period of years 2004–2007 ( N = 29,254) and years 2012–2015 ( N = 38,553). Surveyed subjects are age 16 to 84 years old, with data representing median scores of four years, not normalized for age. Y-axis: Percentage of subjects reporting “stressed”; X-axis: Percentage of subjects indicating physical active at least 30 minutes each day. Each dot represents one County (Län), dot-size indicates self-reported fatigue, and color self-reported healthiness of the County. If 70% of the population states they are having “Good/Very good” health, the dot is blue. If less than 70% states they are having good/very good health, the dot is red. The circle indicated with a black arrow corresponds to nation median. The black line connected to the nation circle represents the movement in the X–Y plane from the year 2004 to 2007, and from 2012 to 2015, respectively. Data retrieved from the Public Health Agency of Sweden 2019-04-22 ( www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se ).

Results in Figure 1 may in part be explained by a polarization of who is physically active: Some individuals are extremely active, others very inactive, giving a similar central tendency (mean/median). As physical activity and mental stress are not changed, but health is, the figure indicates that other factors must be more important to our overall health and fatigue. Recently, a national study of Swedish 11- to 15-year-olds concluded that this age group is inactive for most of their time awake, that is, sitting, standing or moving very little [ 55 ]. Time as inactive increased with age, from 67 percent for 11-year-olds to 75 percent for 15-year-olds. The study states that in all age groups, the inactive time is evenly distributed over the week, with school time, leisure time, and weekend. Further, those who feel school-related stress have more inactive time, both overall and during school hours, than those who have less school-related stress.

People active in sports have, in general, better health than those who do not participate in sports, because they are physically and mentally prepared for the challenges of sports, abilities that in many cases can be transferred to other parts of life [ 56 ].

However, there is a certain bias in this statement. Sport practitioners are already positively selected, because sickness and injury may prevent participation. As many health benefits of sport are related to the level of physical activity, separation of sport and physical exercise may be problematic. Regardless, societal benefits of these health effects can be seen in lower morbidity, healthier elderly, and lower medical costs [ 7 , 57 , 58 ].

Health effects of physical activity in many cases follow a dose–response relationship; dose of physical activity is in proportion to the effect on health [ 59 , 60 ]. Figure 2 depicts the relationship between risk of death and level of physical activity, in a Finnish twin cohort, adjusted for smoking, occupational group, and alcohol consumption [ 59 ]. Odds ratio (OR) for the risk of all-cause mortality in a larger sample in the same study was 0.80 for occasional exercisers ( p = 0.002, 95% CI = 0.69–0.91). This dose–response relationship between risk of all-cause mortality and physical activity is evident in several extensive studies [ 60 , 61 , 62 ]. The total dose is determined by the intensity (how strenuous), duration (duration), and frequency (how often). While Figure 2 shows sex differences in death rates, it is likely that sedentary behavior is equally hazardous for men and women, but inconsistent results sometime occur due to inadequate assessment measures, or low statistical power [ 59 , 63 ]. To obtain the best possible development due to physical exercise/training, both for prevention and treatment purposes, a basic understanding of how these variables affect the dose of activity is required, as well as understanding how they can be modified to suit individual requirements. A physically active population is important for the health of both the individual and society, with sport participation being one, increasingly important, motivator for exercise.

Relative risk (odds ratio; OR) of premature death in relationship to level of physical activity, in 286 male and 148 female twin pairs, adjusted for smoking, occupational group, and use of alcohol [ 59 ].

There is strong scientific evidence supporting an association between physical exercise/training and good physical and mental health. For example: A reduction in musculoskeletal disorders and reduced disability due to chronic disease [ 27 , 64 ], better mental health with reduced anxiety [ 65 , 66 ], insomnia [ 67 ], depression [ 31 ], stress [ 68 ], and other psychological disorders [ 69 ]. Physical and mental health problems are related to an increased risk of developing a number of our major public health diseases and may contribute to premature death ( Table 2 ).

Health-related physiological effects of aerobic and muscle strengthening physical activity. Green circle indicates that the activity contributes with an effect, whereas a red circle indicates that the activity has no proven effect. Orange circle indicates that the activity may in some cases be effective.

5.1. Effects on Physical Health

The effects of physical activity and exercise are both acute (during and immediately after) and long-lasting. Effects remaining after a long period of regular physical activity have far-reaching consequences for health and are described below. For example, some muscle enzymes’ activity can be quickly increased by physical exercise/training but just as quickly be lost when idle [ 118 ]. Other changes remain for months or years even if training ends—for instance, increased number and size of muscle fibers and blood vessels [ 49 , 119 , 120 ]. Good health, therefore, requires physical activity to be performed with both progression and continuity. Most of the conducted physical exercise/training is a combination of both aerobic and muscle strengthening exercise, and it can be difficult to distinguish between their health effects ( Table 2 ).

To describe ill-health, indicators of life expectancy, disease incidence (number), and prevalence (how often) are used [ 121 ]. In describing the relationship between physical activity and falling ill with certain diseases, the dose–response relationship, the effect size (the risk reduction that is shown in studies), and the recommended type and dose of physical activity are considered [ 122 ]. Table 3 shows the relative effects of regular physical activity ton the risk of various diseases (US Department of Human Services, 2009). The greatest health gains are for people who move from completely sedentary to moderately active lifestyles, with health effects seen before measurable improvements in physical performance. Previously, most scientific studies collected data only on aerobic physical activity. However, resistance exercise also shows promising health (mental and physical) and disease-prevention effects [ 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 ].

Disease prevention effects of regular physical activity.

Compiled from US Department of Health and Human Service, https://health.gov/paguidelines/report/ [ 62 , 146 ] 1 : Risk reduction refers to the relative risk in physically active samples in comparison to a non-active sample, i.e., a risk reduction of 20% means that the physically active sample has a relative risk of 0.8, compared to the non-active sample, which has 1.0. 2 : In general, general recommendations for PA that are described and referred to herein apply to most conditions. However, in some cases, more specific recommendations exist, more in depth described by the US Department of Health and Human Service, amongst others [ 62 ]. 3 : Evidence is dependent on cancer subtype; refer to US Department of Health and Human Service [ 62 ] for in-depth guidance. PA = Physical.

Aerobic physical activity has been shown to benefit weight maintenance after prior weight loss, reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, normalize blood lipids, and help with cancer/cancer-related side effects ( Table 2 and Table 3 ), while effects on chronic pain are not as clear [ 29 ].

Muscle-strengthening physical activity has, in contrast to aerobic exercise, been shown to reduce muscle atrophy [ 128 ], risk of falling [ 75 ], and osteoporosis [ 74 ] in the elderly. Among the elderly, both men and women adapt positively to strength training [ 129 ]. Strength training also prevents obesity [ 130 ], enhances cognitive performance if done alongside aerobic exercise [ 131 ], counteracts the development of neurodegenerative diseases [ 132 , 133 , 134 ], reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome [ 135 ], counteracts cancer/cancer-related side effects [ 135 , 136 ], reduces pain and disability in joint diseases [ 137 ], and enhances bone density [ 137 , 138 ]. The risk of falling increases markedly with age and is partly a result of reduced muscle mass, and reduced coordination and balance [ 76 , 139 , 140 ]. A strong correlation between physical performance, reduced risk of falls, and enhanced quality of life is therefore, not surprisingly, found in older people [ 141 ]. Deterioration in muscle strength, but not muscle mass, increases the risk of premature death [ 142 ] but can be counteracted by exercise as a dose–response relationship describes the strength improvement in the elderly [ 122 , 143 ]. Recommendations state high-intensity strength training (6–8 repetitions at 80% of 1-repetition maximum) as most effective [ 144 ]. Muscle strengthening physical activity for better health is recommended as a complement to aerobic physical activity [ 29 ]. Amongst the elderly, vibration training can be an alternative to increase strength [ 145 ].

5.2. Effects on Mental Health

Mental illness is a global problem affecting millions of people worldwide [ 147 ]. Headache, stress, insomnia, fatigue, and anxiety are all measures of mental ill health. The term “ ill health ” constitutes a collection of several mental health problems and symptoms with various levels of seriousness. Studies have compared expected health benefits from regular physical activity for improvement of mental health with other treatments, for example, medication. Most recent studies show that physical activity and exercise used as a primary, or secondary, processing method have significant positive effects in preventing or alleviating depressive symptoms [ 31 , 148 , 149 , 150 , 151 ] and have an antidepressant effect in people with neurological diseases [ 152 ]. Training and exercise improve the quality of life and coping with stress and strengthen self-esteem and social skills [ 69 , 153 ]. Training and exercise also lessen anxiety in people who are diagnosed with an anxiety- or stress-related disease [ 68 ], improve vocabulary learning [ 154 ], memory [ 155 , 156 ], and creative thinking [ 157 ].

The same Swedish data as used in Figure 1 show that between the years 2004–2007 and 2012–2015 anxiety, worry, and insomnia decreased but were not obviously correlated to the slightly increased level of physical activity in the population during the same period. Thus, in a multifactorial context, the importance of physical exercise alone cannot be demonstrated in this dataset.

Some of the suggested physiological explanations for improved mental health with physical activity and exercise are greater perfusion and increased brain volume [ 107 , 158 ], increased volume of the hippocampus [ 106 ], and the anti-inflammatory effects of physical activity, reducing brain inflammation in neurological diseases [ 159 ]. Physical exercise may also mediate resilience to stress-induced depression via skeletal muscle peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), enhancing kynurenine conversion to kynurenine acid, which in turn protects the brain and reduces the risk for stress-induced depression [ 153 ]. Further, increased release of growth factors, endorphins, and signaling molecules are other exercise-induced enhancers of mental health [ 69 ].

6. How Sport Affects Health

Sport’s main purposes are to promote physical activity and improve motor skills for health and performance and psychosocial development [ 56 ]. Participants also gain a chance to be part of a community, develop new social circles, and create social norms and attitudes. In healthy individuals, and patients with mental illness, sport participation has been shown to provide individuals with a sense of meaning, identity, and belonging [ 160 , 161 ]. Whether the sport movement exists or not, training and competition including physical activity will happen. Sport’s added values, in addition to the health benefits of physical activity, are therefore of interest. Some argue that it is doubtful, or at least not confirmed, that health development can come from sport, while others believe that healthy sport is something other than health, reviewed in depth by Coakley [ 162 ]. In a sporting context, health is defined as subjective (e.g., one feels good), biological (e.g., not being sick), functional (e.g., to perform), and social (e.g., to collaborate) [ 163 ]. Holt [ 56 ] argued that the environment for positive development in young people is distinctly different from an environment for performance, as the latter is based on being measured and assessed. That said, certain skills (goal setting, leadership, etc.) can be transferred from a sporting environment to other areas of life. The best way to transfer these abilities is, at the moment, unclear.

Having the goal to win at all costs can be detrimental to health. This is especially true for children and adolescents, as early engagement in elite sports increases the risk of injury, promotes one-dimensional functional development, leads to overtraining, creates distorted social norms, risks psychosocial disorders, and has the risk of physical and psychological abuse [ 15 , 164 ]. Of great importance, therefore, is sport’s goal of healthy performance development, starting at an early age. For older people, a strong motivating factor to conduct physical activity is sports club membership [ 165 ]. One can summarize these findings by stating sport’s utility at the transition between different stages of the life; from youth to adulthood and from adulthood to old age. There, sports can be a resource for good physical and mental health [ 166 ].

Today, a higher proportion of the population, compared to 50 years ago, is engaged in organized sports, and to a lesser extent performs spontaneous sports ( Figure 3 ), something that Engström showed in 2004 [ 17 ] and is confirmed by data from The Swedish Sports Confederation ( www.rf.se ). Of the surveyed individuals in 2001, 50%–60% of children and young people said they were active in a sports club. The trend has continued showing similar progression to 2011, with up to 70% of school students playing sports in a club. Furthermore, the study shows that those active in sport clubs also spontaneously do more sports [ 167 ]. Similar data from the years 2007–2018, compiled from open sources at The Swedish Sports Confederation, confirm the trend with an even higher share of youths participating in organized sports, compared to 1968 and 2001 ( Figure 4 ).

Spontaneous sport has decreased over the last decades, to the advantage of organized sport. Data compiled from Engström, 2004, The Swedish Research Council for Sport Science.

Data compiled from open sources report Sport Statistics (Idrotten i siffror) at The Swedish Sports Confederation for the year 2011 ( www.rf.se ).

Taking part in sports can be an important motivator for physical activity for older people [ 165 , 166 ]. With aging, both participation in sports ( Figure 4 ) and physical activity in everyday life [ 168 ] decreases. At the same time, the number of people who are physically active both in leisure and in organized sports increases (The Public Health Agency of Sweden 2017; www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se ). Consequently, among elderly people, a greater proportion of the physical activity occurs within the context of sport [ 8 , 28 ]. Together, research shows that organized sports, in clubs or companies, are more important for people’s overall physical activity than ever before. Groups that are usually less physically active can be motivated through sport—for example, elderly men in sport supporters’ clubs [ 169 ], people in rural areas [ 170 ], migrants [ 171 ], and people with alternative physical and mental functions [ 172 ]. No matter how you get your sporting interest, it is important to establish a physical foundation at an early age to live in good health when you get older ( Figure 5 ). As seen in Figure 5 , a greater sport habitus at age 15 results in higher physical activity at 53 years of age. Early training and exposure to various forms of sports are therefore of great importance. Participation creates an identity, setting the stage for a high degree of physical activity later in life [ 173 ].

Odds ratio (OR) of physical activity at age 53 in relation to Sport habitus at age 15. Sport habitus (“the total physical capital"), including cultural capital, athletic diversity, and grades in physical education and health are, according to Engström [ 173 ], the factors most important for being physically active in later life. For a further discussion on sport habitus, the readers are referred to Engström, 2008 [ 173 ]. Numbers above bar show the 95% confidence interval. ** = significant difference from “Very low”, p < 0.01. *** = p < 0.001.

7. Sport’s Effects on the Health of Children and Young People

The effects of participation in organized sports for children and young people are directly linked to physical activity, with long term secondary effects; an active lifestyle at a young age fosters a more active lifestyle as an adult. As many diseases that are positively affected by physical activity/exercise appear later in life, continued participation in sport as an adult will reduce morbidity and mortality.

It must be emphasized that good physical and mental health of children and young people participating in sport requires knowledge and organization based on everyone’s participation. Early specialization counteracts, in all regards, both health and performance development [ 174 , 175 ].

7.1. Positive Aspects

According to several reviews, there is a correlation between high daily physical activity in children and a low risk for obesity, improved development of motor and cognitive skills, as well as a stronger skeleton [ 176 , 177 ]. Positive effects on lipidemia, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, body composition, metabolic syndrome, bone density and depression, increased muscle strength, and reduced damage to the skeleton and muscles are also described [ 178 , 179 ]. If many aspects are merged in a multidimensional analysis [ 8 , 173 ], the factors important for future good health are shown to be training in sports, broad exposure to different sports, high school grades, cultural capital, and that one takes part in sport throughout childhood ( Table 4 ).

Compiled health profiles for men and women at the age of 20 years, depending on participation in organized sports at the age of 5, 7, 8, 10, 14, and 17 years.

Classification with repeated latent class analysis creates three groups for girls and boys, respectively: Children who never participated (girls only), participated, quit prematurely, or began late (only boys) in sports. Arrows indicate whether participation in sports at young age has an effect on health at 20 years of age. Green up arrow is positive, red down arrow negative, and a horizontal black double arrow shows that sport had no significant effect. Modified from Howie et. al., 2016 [ 8 ].

Psychological benefits of sports participation of young people were compiled by Eime et al. [ 1 ], where the conclusion was that sporting children have better self-esteem, less depression, and better overall psychosocial health. One problem with most of these studies, though, is that they are cross-sectional studies, which means that no cause–effect relationship can be determined. As there is a bias for participating children towards coming from socially secure environments, the results may be somewhat skewed.

7.2. Negative Aspects

As Table 4 and Table 5 show, there are both positive and negative aspects of sports. Within children’s and youth sports, early specialization to a specific sport is a common phenomenon [ 175 ]. There is no scientific evidence that early specialization would have positive impact, neither for health nor for performance later in life [ 175 ]. No model or method including performance at a young age can predict elite performance as an adult. By contrast, specialization and competitiveness can lead to injury, overtraining, increased psychological stress, and reduced training motivation, just to mention a few amongst many negative aspects [ 174 , 175 ]. Another important aspect is that those who are excluded from sports feel mentally worse [ 8 ]. As there is a relationship between depressive episodes in adolescence, and depression as adults [ 116 ], early exclusion has far-reaching consequences. Therefore, sports for children and young people have future health benefits by reducing the risk of developing depression and depressive symptoms, as well as improved wellbeing throughout life.

Positive and negative aspects with sport (at young age).

While some degree of sport specialization is necessary to develop elite-level athletes, research shows clear adverse health effects of early specialization and talent selection [ 180 ]. More children born during the fall and winter (September–December) are excluded [ 181 ], and as a group, they are less physically active than spring (January–April) children, both in sports and leisure ( Figure 6 ). In most sports and in most countries, there is a skewed distribution of participants when sorted by birth-date, and there are more spring children than fall children among those who are involved in sport [ 182 , 183 , 184 , 185 , 186 ]. Because a large part of the physical activity takes place in an organized form, this leads to lower levels of physical activity for late-born persons (Malm, Jakobsson, and Julin, unpublished data). Early orientation and training in physical activity and exercise will determine how active you are later in life. Greater attention must be given to stimulating as many children and young people as possible to participate in sport as long as possible, both in school and on their leisure time. According to statistics from the Swedish Sports Confederation in 2016, this relative-age effect persists throughout life, despite more starting than ending with sport each year [ 18 ].

The figure shows the distribution of 7597 children aged 10 years and younger who in 2014 were registered as active in one particular, individual sport in Sweden (data compiled from the Swedish Sport Confederation, www.rf.se ). Spring, Summer, and Fall represent January–April, May–August, and September–December, respectively.

When summarize, the positive and negative aspects of sport at a young age can be divided into three categories: (1) Personal identification, (2) social competence, and (3) physiological capacity, briefly summarized in Table 5 . A comprehensive analysis of what is now popularly known as “physical literacy” has recently been published [ 187 ].

7.3. Relevance of Sports

Sports can make children and young people develop both physically and mentally and contribute with health benefits if planned and executed exercise/training considers the person’s own capacities, social situation, and biological as well as psychological maturation. In children and adolescents, it is especially important to prevent sports-related injuries and health problems, as a number of these problems are likely to remain long into adulthood, sometimes for life. Comprehensive training is recommended, which does not necessarily mean that you have to participate in various sports. What is required is diverse training within every sport and club. Research shows that participation in various sports simultaneously during childhood and adolescence is most favorable for healthy and lifelong participation [ 8 , 173 , 188 , 189 ].

8. Sport’s Effects on the Health of Adults and the Elderly

Adults who stop participating in sports reduce their physical activity and have health risks equal to people who have neither done sports nor been physical [ 190 , 191 ]. Lack of adherence to exercise programs is a significant hindrance in achieving health goals and general physical activity recommendations in adults and the elderly [ 192 ]. While several socioeconomic factors are related to exercise adherence, it is imperative that trainers and health care providers are informed about factors that can be modulated, such as intervention intensity (not to high), duration (not too long), and supervision, important for higher adherence, addressed more in depth by Rivera-Torres, Fahey and Rivera [ 192 ].

Healthy aging is dependent on many factors, such as the absence of disease, good physical and mental health, and social commitment (especially through team sports or group activities) [ 193 ]. Increased morbidity with age may be partly linked to decreased physical activity. Thus, remaining or becoming active later in life is strongly associated with healthy aging [ 194 ]. With increased age, there is less involvement in training and competition ( Figure 4 ), and only 20% of adults in Sweden are active, at least to some extent, in sports clubs, and the largest proportion of adults who exercise do it on their own. The following sections describes effects beyond what is already provided for children and youths.

8.1. Positive Aspects

Participation in sports, with or without competition, promotes healthy behavior and a better quality of life [ 166 ]. Exclusion from sports at a young age appears to have long-term consequences, as the previously described relative age effect ( Figure 6 ) remains even for master athletes (Malm, Jakobsson, and Julin, unpublished data). Because master athletes show better health than their peers [ 95 ], actions should be taken to include adults and elderly individuals who earlier in life were excluded from, or never started with sport [ 195 ]. As we age, physical activity at a health-enhancing intensity is not enough to maintain all functions. Higher intensity is required, best comprising competition-oriented training [ 196 , 197 ]. One should not assume that high-intensity exercise cannot be initiated by the elderly [ 198 ]. Competitive sports, or training like a competitive athlete as an adult, can be one important factor to counter the loss of physical ability with aging [ 199 ]. In this context, golf can be one example of a safe form of exercise with high adherence for older adults and the elderly, resulting in increased aerobic performance, metabolic function, and trunk strength [ 200 , 201 ].

8.2. Negative Aspects

Increased morbidity (e.g., cardiovascular disease) with aging is seen also among older athletes [ 202 ] and is associated with the same risk factors as in the general population [ 203 ]. An increased risk of cardiovascular disease among adults (master) compared to other populations has been found [ 204 ]. Unfortunately, the designs and interpretations of these studies have been criticized, and the incidence of cardiac arrest in older athletes is unclear [ 205 ]. In this context, the difference between competitive sports aiming to optimize performance and recreational sports has to be taken into account, where the former is more likely to induce negative effects due to high training loads and/or impacts during training and games. Although high-intensity training even for older athletes is positive for aerobic performance, it does not prevent the loss of motor units [ 206 ].

Quality of life is higher in sporting adults compared to those who do not play sports, but so is the risk of injury. When hit by injury, adults and young alike may suffer from psychological disorders such as depression [ 207 ], but with a longer recovery time in older individuals [ 208 ]. As with young athletes, secession of training at age 50 years and above reduces blood flow in the brain, including the hippocampus, possibly related to long-term decline in mental capacity [ 209 ].

8.3. Relevance of Sport

As for children and young people, many positive health aspects come through sport also for adults and the elderly [ 210 ]. Sport builds bridges between generations, a potential but not elucidated drive for adults’ motivation for physical activity. The percentage of adults participating in competitive sports has increased in Sweden since 2010, from about 20 percent to 30 percent of all of those who are physically active [ 18 ], a trend that most likely provides better health for the group in the 30–40 age group and generations to come.

9. Recommendations for Healthy Sport

• 1. Plan exercise, rest, and social life. For health-promoting and healthy-aging physical activity, refer to general guidelines summarized in this paper: Aerobic exercise three times a week, muscle-strengthening exercise 2–3 times a week.
• 2. Set long-term goals.
• 3. Adopt a holistic performance development including physiological, medical, mental, and psychosocial aspects.
• ○ a. Exercise load (time, intensity, volume);
• ○ b. Recovery (sleep, resting heart rate, appetite, estimated fatigue, etc.);
• ○ c. Sickness (when–where–how, type of infections, how long one is ill, etc.);
• ○ d. Repeat type- and age-specific physical tests with relevant evaluation and feedback;
• ○ e. Frequency of injuries and causes.
• ○ a. Motivation for training, competition, and socializing;
• ○ b. Personal perception of stress, anxiety, depression, alienation, and self-belief;
• ○ c. Repeat type- and age-specific psychological tests with relevant evaluation and feedback.
• 6. Register and interpret signs of overtraining, such as reduced performance over time, while maintaining or increasing exercise load.

Author Contributions

C.M. and A.J. conceived and designed the review. C.M., A.J., J.J. and interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. J.J. edited the manuscript, tables, and figures. All authors approved the final version.

This work was supported by the Swedish Sports Confederation.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Physical Exercise Essay - 100, 200, 500 Words

A critical factor in determining health is physical exercise. Everyone benefits from physical activity, which not only keeps you healthy and robust but, when started early, can form positive habits for life. However, there are occasions when people neglect their physical health, leading to problems that harm our health. Here are a few sample essays on physical exercise:

Essay on Physical Exercise

500 words essay on physical exercise, types of exercises:.

'Health is Wealth' happiness comes from having good health. Physical fitness and mental alertness can be accomplished by exercise. We all should play different types of sports for physical fitness. Physical activity can help us maintain good health and keep us away from diseases. Many diseases happen due to a lack of physical activity, like heart problems, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. We should do yoga and other physical exercises to stay in good physical and mental shape. Yoga is one of the best forms of exercise for maintaining good health and can also help in reducing stress.

Physical exercise is essential for maintaining physical fitness and can contribute to maintaining a healthy weight, regulating the digestive system, and building and maintaining nutritional bone density. There are numerous ways to exercise, including walking, riding a bike, swimming, and playing various outdoor sports. Some of the activities that people can do to remain physically fit are jogging, yard work (mowing, raking), dancing, swimming, cycling, climbing stairs or hills, playing outdoor sports.

Importance of Physical Exercise:

Without good health, people cannot enjoy the abundance of wealth. Physical exercise improves our memory and brain function among all age groups. It protects against many chronic diseases. Physical activity helps in weight management and improves heart health. Most importantly, it reduces feelings of anxiety and depression and improves our quality of sleep.

Disadvantages of Not Exercising

Circulatory System Problems

Weight Gain

Joint and Bone Fragility

Lack of Endurance

Lack of Physical Strength When You Need It.

Loss of Balance

Loss of Flexibility

Loss of Mobility

Engaging in regular physical activity always produces improvements in physical health and psychological well-being. Physical exercise reduces the risk of diseases, improvements in physical functioning, and fitness, and overall improves quality of life.

Exercise is the repetitive performance of physical work or physical exercise to unwind the body and relieve mental stress. Physical Exercise should be done every day throughout everyone's life.

If someone exercises regularly, the benefits of doing so are frequently noticeable relatively fast. A person needs to be physically and intellectually fit because, as we have all heard, "A healthy mind dwells in a healthy body". So exercising every day is necessary if one wants to stay healthy and fit. In our daily lives, exercise is essential. It helps in maintaining our physical fitness. Exercise will help you lose weight rapidly if you're overweight because it burns calories while working out. Even though you aren't exercising, your body's weight will increase as your muscles grow, which will cause you to burn more calories than usual. Exercise will also help improve our body's blood flow and oxygen levels.

Exercise causes the brain cells to release them more frequently, which helps in the hippocampus's generation of new cells. The brain's hippocampus is the area that assists in memory regulation and learning. Reducing vital signs, which can assist in lessening the strain on your heart, is one of the additional health benefits of exercise for the soul. Your body will have a low risk of getting cardiac ailments if you exercise regularly and eat healthily.

Exercise also helps to control our body's blood sugar levels. They will contribute to the prevention or postponement of type 2 diabetes. One of the leading causes of diabetes is being overweight, which can be managed with daily exercise. Exercise helps in revitalising and reconditioning our entire body. It helps in the development of strong muscles. Exercise can help people lose weight or prevent obesity. It preserves the young and slows down the process of ageing. Exercise is essential for maintaining health and fitness because it is necessary for all aspects of life.

Everyone should exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle and stay free from diseases. Both mental and physical development is essential for success in life. Exercise is, therefore, crucial for one's general development. We should keep a healthy balance between school, rest, and activities.

• Morning walk

Gymnastics exercise

Free-Hand Exercises

Outdoor sports

My Experience

At the age of 16, I was too fat and unable to run for more than 5 minutes. Due to my weight, I was suffering from many types of diseases. Soon after this, my father pushed me to exercise every morning because exercise frees our body and mind from stress. Every morning my father and I started going to the garden to do activities like yoga, morning walk, flexibility, and many more. In school, our physical education teacher also took all children to the ground to exercise and play outdoor games. Later, I noticed that I was recovering slowly from several diseases and lost a lot of weight. I could see the difference in my energy levels and overall performance and realised that we all should exercise every day.

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Move it! The Importance of Daily Exercise for Kids

Teach kids the importance of including exercise in their daily routine and how much time they should exercise each day.

3-8 Years Old

What You Need

• Flip chart or whiteboard and markers
• A blank piece of paper and pencil for each kid

Healthy Families Newsletter

English (pdf)

Spanish (pdf)

To find out how this health safety lesson fits Physical Education and Health Education standards click here .

Newsletter sign-up

Be the first to know when new lessons come out.

Lesson Overview

This exercise lesson helps kids understand why being active is important for their bodies and minds. The youth will experience how they feel different before and after physical activity. In this activity, kids will estimate how much daily exercise they get and think of ways they can be more active.

Introduction

Ask young people, why is it good for us to move around and get exercise?

There are so many reasons why exercise is important . S ome of the most important things for kids to know are:

• Exercise is good for heart health. It helps your heart pump blood all through your body. Your heart can never take a rest, so it needs to be strong! Good food and plenty of exercise help.
• Exercise can put you in a good mood. When you exercise, your body makes a chemical — called an endorphin — that helps you feel good.
• Exercise helps your body stay at, or reach, a healthy weight. The food you eat is energy that you put into your body. This energy is also called “calories.” To stay at a healthy weight, you have to use up the energy you eat. Exercise helps you do that. If you don’t use the energy, it stays in your body and can make you gain weight that you don’t need. Extra weight is hard on your heart, muscles, and bones.

Energy In vs. Energy Out

In this exercise lesson , explain that “e nergy in” is the food we eat and the beverages we drink. “Energy out” is the physical activity or exercise we do every day.

Talk with the children about what happens when we take more energy in than energy out and vice versa. Our bodies need energy to properly grow. If we take in more food and beverages on a regular basis than our bodies need , it is possible for us to gain excessive weight. Explain not only the importance of exercise for kids , but also how a healthy balance d diet helps our bodies grow and be healthy.

Activity: Before and After

• With the kids sitting quietly, explain that you are going to do a classroom experiment involving exercise.
• On the flip chart or whiteboard draw a vertical line down the middle. Label one column “before” and the other “after.”
• Ask for words that describe how they are feeling as they are sitting quietly in their seats. Encourage them to pay attention to what kind of mood they are in, what their bodies are telling them, and how much energy they have. They may say things like: calm, tired, antsy, bored, comfortable. Whatever they say is fine as long as they say what they actually feel. Write these words or phrases in the “before” column.
• Lead the kids in a variety of exercises, such as high-knee marching around the classroom, sit-ups, push-ups, jogging in place, or jumping jacks. See if anyone has suggestions of activities. Exercise for at least five minutes before having them return to their seats.
• Now have them share how they are feeling after exercising. Write those words in the “after” column. They may say things like: alert, awake, happy, full of energy, excited.
• It helps your body maintain overall good health.
• It helps build and maintain healthy bones and muscles.
• It increases flexibility.
• It feels good, if done right.

Activity: Thinking Through Exercise Habits

• Ask: How much time should kids exercise each day? How can you get more? The answer is that it’s good for kids to exercise daily for at least one hour, but wait to offer this until the kids have made suggestions of their own. Then use the following questions to help them think about their own exercise habits.
• How much exercise do you get at school? Prompt them to think about how much time they spend in gym class, and how much time outside for recess. Ask them if that adds up to one hour a day. You may want to add up the amount of time mentioned on the board.
• How much exercise do you get when you’re home after school? If young people say that they don’t get much exercise after school, ask them what they do instead of exercise. Ask what their favorite exercise is and plan how they can do more of it. They could turn off the television after 7 p.m., encourage the family to go on a walk before or after dinner, or go outdoors and play with their friends.
• What about exercise on the weekends? Ask the kids to make a list. Make sure they remember things like soccer, dance, etc., in addition to playing outside with friends. In fact, it can be anything that involves moving your body, like going for a bike ride, walking the dog, running, helping in the yard, ballet class, soccer practice, gym class—anything that gets your body moving. After the kids make their lists, ask them to write downtimes during the day that they can add these exercises to what they’re already doing so that they reach one hour a day.

After this exercise lesson is complete, e ncourage the group to try more simple exercises for kids at least one time, even if they don’t think they will be very good at them. Remind them that you don’t have to think you’re good at something to enjoy and to benefit from it. If they stay open to new possibilities they may be surprised by what they discover.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish , so that families can explore new ways to exercise together at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Encouraging Your Child to Exercise video

Power Chargers

A set of quick activities to ignite bursts of energy. See all >

Push Up Line Up

Beetle on Back

Mobile Math

This site is presented for information only and is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice. Health Powered Kids is a trademark of Allina Health System. Presentation and Design © 2015 Allina Health. All Rights Reserved.

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Physical Exercise — Exercise in our daily life

What Do You Feel after Exercise: My Experience

• Categories: Physical Exercise

About this sample

Words: 855 |

Published: Mar 14, 2019

Words: 855 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited

• Smith, J. (2019). The Psychological Benefits of Exercise: A Comprehensive Review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 15(2), 45-62.
• Johnson, L., & Davis, M. (2017). The Impact of Exercise on Stress Reduction: A Meta-analysis. Journal of Health Psychology, 32(3), 201-215.
• Thompson, C. L., & Anderson, R. (2018). Exercise and Mental Well-being: Exploring the Connection. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 42(1), 189-204.
• Davis, A., & Roberts, M. (2020). Physical Activity and Emotional Well-being: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Positive Psychology, 28(4), 201-215.
• Gonzalez, L. S., & Wilson, B. (2016). The Effects of Exercise on Sleep Quality and Duration. Journal of Sleep Research, 52(2), 345-360.
• Johnson, S., & Miller, C. (2019). Exercise and Social Interaction: The Role of Physical Activity in Promoting Social Bonds. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 45(4), 521-536.
• Baker, S., & Turner, R. (2017). Exercise and Self-esteem: Exploring the Relationship. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 32(1), 89-104.
• Smith, E., & Davis, M. A. (2018). The Impact of Exercise on Weight Management : A Comparative Study. Journal of Obesity, 28(2), 233-248.
• Anderson, R., & Roberts, M. (2016). The Psychological and Social Benefits of Exercise: A Systematic Review. Journal of Health Promotion, 42(2), 233-248.
• Gonzalez, L. S., & Johnson, S. (2020). The Effects of Exercise on Cognitive Functioning: A Meta-analysis. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 28(2), 233-248.

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Propaganda used to be a dirty word in this country. Long associated with authoritarian regimes in countries like Russia and China, propaganda as it has been understood over the decades meant centralized control over the way a nation’s citizens access the news — not just the news about the country they live in, but about that country’s place in the world. 

When Vladimir Putin took over in Russia a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, one of the first things he did was to begin his gradual seizure of control over the Russian media. Ownership of newspapers and broadcasting stations, both television and radio, had only recently been privatized, and Putin engineered a process whereby one news outlet after another was sold to friendly oligarchs. Eventually, virtually all formerly independent news outlets were returned to de facto state control as Putin tightened his grip on power.

In Hungary, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sought to follow the Putin model, closing unfriendly news outlets for violating various newly-passed laws and turning them over to the control of oligarchs friendly to his regime. Right-wing media figures like Tucker Carlson and, through him, broadcast companies like Fox News have approvingly noted Orbán’s control over how people in Hungary get their news. When Carlson was the biggest prime-time host on Fox News, he even broadcast his show from Budapest for a week, promoting Orbán and the “illiberal democracy” he  brought to his country.

In this country, the takeover of broadcast and print news has progressed more slowly, but arguably just as surely. Sinclair Broadcast Group, owned by the arch-conservative Smith family of Baltimore, went on a buying spree that began back in the 1980s and ‘90s, taking control of local television stations around the country. Sinclair even came up with a way of getting around FCC rules that barred ownership of two competing stations in one market throughj so-called local marketing agreements, under which Sinclair could operate a second station in a given market by selling it to a corporation that would eventually come under Sinclair’s control if and when FCC rules are relaxed. Next came so-called shared services agreements, which allowed Sinclair to control a third station in Columbus, Ohio, where Sinclair already operated two stations.

Then Sinclair doubled, tripled and quadrupled down on its strategy to take over local stations, beginning another buying spree, this time buying multiple stations from media outfits like Cox Communications and Allbritton Communications. Cox sold Sinclair five stations, Allbritton sold seven. On Sinclair went, buying cable outlets such as the Tennis Channel and Bally Sports, a network of local sports channels. In 2017, Sinclair went after Chicago-based Tribune Media, in a takeover attempt that would have dramatically increased the company's footprint, putting Sinclair in 10 major-city media markets. Over a period of years that purchase eventually fell apart, but Sinclair came out of the whole thing with control of 193 stations in more than 100 markets around the country. 

With that immense market control, Sinclair started experimenting with supplying centralized news content through morning shows that ran on multiple local Sinclair-owned stations. From there, they went on to produce a show called “The National Desk,” a two-hour evening newscast provided to Sinclair stations that did not have local news shows. Then Sinclair began “must run” news segments that were centrally produced but required to be run as part of Sinclair-owned stations’ news broadcasts. The “must run” segments began with support of George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq and went on to include stories critical of the so-called “deep state,” a political fiction that Donald Trump has pushed since he first ran for president in 2015. Sinclair has continued over the years to run pro-Trump “must run” segments, including excerpts from Trump speeches criticizing CNN and other news outlets as “fake news,” while praising Sinclair Broadcasting. 

Now we find ourselves in the midst of the 2024 election campaign, and what is Sinclair doing? Last week, Sinclair picked up the widely-discredited Wall Street Journal story about Biden’s age and cognitive abilities, and began broadcasting “must run” segments featuring allegations that Biden is showing “signs of slipping” made by — wait for it — former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. Sinclair news hosts read from identical scripts describing the Journal’s story as “calling into question the mental fitness of President Joe Biden.” The issue, Sinclair hosts told their audiences darkly, “could be an election decider.”

Was anybody else quoted by either Sinclair or the Wall Street Journal about Biden’s alleged diminished capacities? Nope. Did either the Journal or Sinclair mention that McCarthy had been quoted in the New York Times praising Biden’s negotiating skills during discussions in the Oval Office over the budget in 2023? 

I’ll give you one guess.

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Now Sinclair has gone full-court press on Biden’s age, running repeated video segments that are alleged to show the president’s “senior moments.” The segments are part of a package sent out as a “must run” to Sinclair stations, also including a story that features a quote from a spokesman for the Trump campaign saying, “The lights are on but nobody’s home.”

What do these videos show? They show Joe Biden at a Juneteenth celebration at the White House watching a musical performance. Sinclair’s segments describe Biden as “dazed” and “not moving” at the Juneteenth event and then show an edited clip of Biden’s remarks during which he slurs the word “history.” Biden, of course, has had an acknowledged speech impediment throughout his life and his decades in politics. He occasionally stumbles over words and often jokes about it. 

Sinclair’s coverage of Biden’s visit to Normandy Beach for the D-Day anniversary celebration last week included a rumor spread on Elon Musk’s X platform (formerly Twitter) that Biden had soiled himself at the celebration. The “must run” segment included the words “diaper,” “poop” and “pooping,” summing things up with the editorial remark that the D-Day appearance “paints a poor picture for President Biden, 81, who is fighting off harsh criticisms of his physical and mental capabilities.” The “must-run” segments all appeared at the same time on June 10, 9:24 Eastern, on at least 86 Sinclair-affiliated stations, according to a report on Judd Legum’s Popular Information .

Sinclair's “must run” segment on Biden's D-Day appearance included the words “diaper,” “poop” and “pooping,” and concluded that the event “paints a poor picture" of Biden, "who is fighting off harsh criticisms of his physical and mental capabilities.”

Legum adds that Sinclair then featured a June 13 must-run segment covering Biden’s attendance at the G7 summit in Italy, alleging that Biden “appears to start wandering off at the G7 summit and has to be handled back in.” Actual footage of the event shows Biden leaving the group of leaders to walk over to greet parachutists from each of the G7 nations who had landed nearby. 

Sinclair has received so much blowback for this shameless propaganda that the company felt obliged to respond, issuing a statement  last week claiming it was "outrageous and offensive" to suggest that its coverage of Biden and its relentless parroting of the Journal story were "politically biased."

In fact, this propaganda is being produced in conjunction with the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, and then distributed around the country through a network of TV stations owned and operated by a company that reliably supports the Republican Party and Donald Trump himself. Similar garbage-content is being produced by Trump-friendly print media like the New York Post and other right-wing papers. Trump himself shows up at his campaign rallies week after week and talks about Biden “wandering around,” with a wink and a nod to the right-wing media’s tsunami of misleading and fabricated “coverage” of Biden’s alleged missteps and mispronunciations.

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Meanwhile, Trump frequently cannot identify politicians who appear with him — twice calling Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, a friend and ally he has known for years, "Ronny Johnson" — and descends into nonsensical tirades about electric boats and marauding sharks he fears are ready to attack him.

You could, perhaps, try to write all this off as politics as usual in the modern era of partisanship and intractable division. It’s happened before. Remember the “Swift-boating” of John Kerry in 2004 when he was running against George W. Bush? Coordinated lies about Kerry turned his heroism and his Vietnam medals into a liability when he was running against a man who managed to dodge the draft by joining the Air National Guard and then refusing to show up for meetings.

But this time around it’s different, and a lot worse. With the network of local television stations owned by Sinclair and Fox News on cable systems around the clock, we’ve entered a world that even Orbán and Putin would admire. While those two authoritarians had to use state power to control the media in their countries, right-wingers in this country have used big money and capitalism to accomplish something similar: American-style propaganda produced by the Republican Party and the Trump campaign, and sent out nightly by Sinclair Broadcasting on stations that reach more than 40 percent of American households, That doesn’t even include the reach of Fox News propaganda blathered nightly by Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. 

It’s not news. It’s a red blanket that has been thrown over America by right-wing billionaires and a political party that has embraced the kind of authoritarianism that once upon a time this country stood against. 

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Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He has covered stories such as Watergate, the Stonewall riots and wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels and several unsuccessful motion pictures. He has three children, lives in rural Pennsylvania and spends his time Worrying About the State of Our Nation and madly scribbling in a so-far fruitless attempt to Make Things Better. You can read his daily columns at luciantruscott.substack.com and follow him on Twitter @LucianKTruscott and on Facebook at Lucian K. Truscott IV.

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