How to promote physical activity in higher education institutions.
The benefits of regular physical activity
It is widely known that regular physical activity improves fitness, builds strong muscles, controls weight and reduces depression.
Moreover, practising physical activity regularly reduces also:
type two diabetes, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and cancer.
Those mentioned above are but a few benefits of performing physical activity regularly. These benefits apply to people from all age groups.
Physical activity is essential for all spheres of life of a college or a university student.
However, let’s have a deeper look at these benefits from the point of view of higher education institutions. Moreover, this article also includes a quick overview and tips to apply initiatives promoting physical activity at colleges and universities.
How physical activity benefits college and university students
Let’s go first through a few you are fundamental reasons for which it would be good for university or college students to be physically active.
First of all, their relationships with their peers, parents or even professors and teachers will be better as the learners will find more common points of interaction with the groups mentioned above of people.
Whether it’s team sports, going to the gym, swimming, or even just riding a bike, physical activity positively influences the brain and improves students’ performance in study outcomes.
Therefore, students’ self-esteem will also be higher. These environments also support the students’ autonomy, and when they have to combine and manage to learn with physical activity, it may be difficult for them in the first place.
But, in the long run, it will be better for them because they will have more skills to manage their future professional and personal lives.
Indeed, it raises the learners’ motivation and improves their behaviour: it is a healthy way to fill in their free time with sports-related leisure activities. And, of course, students’ general well-being will benefit from it.
Exercising and training regularly promote soft skills such as interpersonal skills or self-regulation skills. Moreover, It highlights values such as social responsibility and respect.
Some of the tips for improving the health of students and staff at higher education institutions would be by that providing the possibility for all the students and staff to engage in sports-related activities in educational settings.
Let’s have a look at some practical examples:
Higher education institutions could promote physical activity by my letting their staff and students move in and outside the campus and adopting policies encouraging biking and walking.
In other words, colleges and universities can motivate their staff and learners to move more by creating particular roads for pedestrians, bicycle riders and wheelchair rolling people.
Higher education institutions should promote community plans and policies for designing and building roads and infrastructures for sporting.
Of course, these areas should be projected around schools and other places where the staff and students usually go, such as libraries or canteens.
Moreover, policies should be put in place to eat students and staff to be physically active during or after school. Physically active students could be given extra credit, and staff could be paid more.
Moreover, policies should be adopted to make staff and learners move from one classroom to another or from one campus port to another after every lesson or lecture.
In addition, communities could also be included in this kind of initiative to have more possibilities for the students and the staff to practise physical activity outside of the campuses. Connecting with the community is always important. When it comes to sports and wellness, the community will undoubtedly be willing to help by putting their gyms, open-air sporting areas in the parks, or other facilities at the disposal of higher education institutions.
University or college staff should be taught to promote sports and wellness and physical activity communities and initiatives through their profession. Many students will undoubtedly follow their guidelines for a healthier, happier, and enriched lifestyle.
ACS College
ACS – ASOMI College of Sciences offers to mentor and tutoring facilities to its students in the means of the mental and physical health of its learners at heart. We also have courses in health-related disciplines such as osteopathy and sports physiotherapy.
