‘WORLD HEALTH DAY’-IMPORTANCE OF EXERCISE

Aaraav Ovalekar-Grade 10 student

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In today’s modern world of advanced technology and gadgets, exercise often takes a backseat. ‘YES’, the advanced technology does make our lives easier but it is also important to remember that ‘health is wealth’ and it is not necessary that something which makes our life comfortable also makes us healthier. According to 358 surveys across 168 countries and 1.9 million people, about 28% or 1.4 billion adults do not get enough exercise on a week-to-week basis. According to another study, only 21% of Indians living in urban areas exercise regularly or follow a diet plan to stay healthy, whilst only 9% of the remaining intend to start exercising while on the contrary, only 5% intend to follow a diet plan to keep fit. Keeping fit is crucial as it helps in avoiding major diseases. A healthy human tends to fall sick less often and can perform better.

There are many ways of exercising, for me playing sports is the best one. Playing sports is very beneficial as it is a form of exercise and also a stress buster. It serves as a nice break from daily work and enlightens one’s mood. It also helps in the overall development of a person and teaches him important qualities like team spirit, respect, and a good sense of competition. For students, it acts as a break from studies and also helps in building new friendships. Above all, it releases hormones like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins which are commonly known as feel-good or happy hormones and have always been the better alternative to the ever so popular video games.

Other than playing sports other forms of exercise include cycling which improves one’s cardiovascular fitness, improves joint mobility, and helps in building good hand-eye co-ordination and building a good posture. Not only cycling but dancing as a form of exercise has also been proven to be a great form of exercise. It improves agility and flexibility and improves muscle tone and strength. Speaking of flexibility, Yoga too helps to improve it and also reduces mental stress and tranquillizes one’s mind.

Improvement in the quality of sleep, improvement in heart health, lowering the chance of high blood pressure-related diseases, an increase in the life span, improvement of memory and brain functions are just some of the benefits of exercising daily. Some consequences of not exercising daily include developing high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and heart-related diseases. The HDL cholesterol, also known as the ‘good’ cholesterol which helps to remove the harmful LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream goes down on not getting adequate exercise which leads to the amount of LDL cholesterol to increase which can cause diseases like atherosclerosis.

It is necessary for children between the ages of six and fourteen to at least get one hour of daily physical exercise as playing sports like badminton, football, cricket, tennis, table tennis, basketball, etc. makes up a crucial part of their childhood and overall development.

Nowadays, technology has made our lives very easy. Generally, most of our requirements are available at our fingertips. Within a few clicks, we can get our monthly supplies and are also able to buy the latest gadgets and clothes. People are much more connected now via the umpteen social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and morning walks to meet friends, a form of exercise, has become less common. These days almost all the buildings have elevators which are quite helpful but have discouraged masses to take the stairs which is also a great form of exercise. Exercising is vital to lead a healthy life which in turn makes one’s life prosperous. Lastly, I would like to quote the great American boxer, Gene Tunney, “To enjoy the glow of good health you must exercise.”