Sports Effects on Teen´s Health

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With television, movies, computers, video games and mobile devices becoming more and more prevalent in the everyday lives of youth and teens; living an active lifestyle is now much more important now than it has ever been before. With more and more youth and teens being sucked into the world of technology, the importance that is being placed on extracurricular activities; especially those of the athletic spectrum has declined substantially in the last few years. Sports are often used as a ‘hook’, and are used to recruit youth and teens into health and education programs. The outer physical benefits of an active lifestyle in youth and teens such as a fit figure and are obvious, and the health benefits of sports youth and teenagers are often easy to see, but the positive effects of youth and teenage athletics have a much greater reach than just an active lifestyle and lean figure. "Our study demonstrates the benefits of youth sports participation on self-rated health and life satisfaction among young youth at a critical juncture in adolescent development. Our findings suggest that sports team participation may enhance school connectedness, social support and bonding among friends and teammates." (Zullig/White) Athletic extracurricular activities help to promote physical activity; such programs have also been proven to increase academic performance in students. Participating on a sports team has many positive mental effects on teens and youth including their self-esteem, self-confidence, behavior and social growth that persist well past graduation and into adulthood. Participating in sports helps to develop a healthy sense of competition within a friendly, team-oriented atmosphere. “According to the University of Florida, students... ... middle of paper ... ...een shown to help increase academic performance Works Cited Brown, M. D. (2000). Science or soccer? -- how important are extracurricular activities? Retrieved November 10, 2013, from Education World website: http://www.educationworld.com/_curr/.shtml Côté, PhD (2010) Kids Learn Social Skills Through Sports Retrieved November 10, 2013, from Softpedia website: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Kids-Learn-Social-Skills-Through-Sports-213039.shtml Springer Science+Business Media “Young teens who play sports feel healthier and happier about life” ScienceDaily Retrieved November 11, 2013 from ScienceDaily website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100922082330.htm United Nations. Sport to Promote Social Inclusion and Diversity Retrieved November 8, 2013, from United Nations website: http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/sport/home/unplayers/memberstates/pid/16005

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