How Youth Sports Can Help Ease Anxiety and Stress
If your child is suffering from stress and anxiety due to school or something else, you should consider getting them interested in sports. Even though there are fewer children playing sports now than before, you should work towards changing that but getting your children to participate in a youth sport of their choosing, or even more than one.
We say this because sports has scientifically been proven to help with anxiety and stress in both adults and children. Let’s take a look at how that works in youth sports and how your child can benefit.
It’s More Than Another Additional Activity
Physical activity should not be considered as a chore, even though some children might feel like that. Physical activity and sports, in general, are more beneficial than they are problematic. Even though your child might already have a lot to do every day, and by adding another ‘chore’ you both might feel like it would do harm, the reality is the exact opposite.
Playing sports will bring your child a lot. They will start leading a healthier lifestyle and will improve their social skills and cooperation. They will learn and gain a lot that will eventually benefit them in later life – competitiveness, ambition, and they will build character.
All of this is why your child should play sports even if that means that they will have a lot more to do every day. It will be stressful at first as those problems don’t go away overnight, but once they get into it, these practices and matches will ease their anxiety and stress.
What Do Sports Do for Our Bodies?
- They stimulate the production of endorphins
Sports and other physical activities are essential when it comes to our endorphin production as they stimulate its production. Endorphin is, as you probably already know, responsible for our mood. Essentially, youth sports can help your child feel better and thus ease stress and other problems.
- They promote socialization
It might seem like something that won’t work on stress and anxiety, but in reality more socializing can help your child in many ways. Children need socializing, the need to make bonds with other children, and they need friendship. The best way to get all of that is by playing team sports. That socialization will eventually relieve them of stress and anxiety with which they’ve been struggling before.
- They lower depression levels and promote better sleep
Finally, it’s worth noting that there are a lot of studies that show that sports can help ease the symptoms of depression and can also promote improved sleep patterns. Sleep on its own is a great way to alleviate anxiety and stress, and when sports induce it, it’s even better.
The Bottom Line Once you consider all of this, it becomes quite evident that youth sports can benefit your child in more ways than you previously thought. It’s thus imperative to get your child to play sports if they are having problems with stress and anxiety. However, make sure you are not pushing them too hard because over-training can bring these problems back.