Developing Health Awareness in Children Through Ultimate Frisbee

Promoting health awareness in children as they grow is essential and doing so through a sporting activity like Ultimate Frisbee can go a long way in inculcating and nurturing a healthy life.

Here’s how sports in general and ultimate frisbee more specifically can help in promoting health awareness amongst children and parents:

1. Nutrition:

Parents know this best – proper nutrition means the child is getting the right fuel for their body. So when we get involved in a sport it becomes even more essential as the body is developing at an optimal rate and so to gain optimal performance, what our children eat, matters.

In a sporting setup, just as important as it is for parents, it’s as important for coaches to collaborate with the parents to make sure a child is aware and is having balanced meals, including the right mix of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). This knowledge helps children understand how food choices impact their energy levels, performance and overall health.

The idea is to educate and guide through sports and as children enjoy themselves, we hope they too see the reward in being good to their bodies.

2. Hydration:

Hydration is essential for sports performance and overall health.

We encourage regular water-breaks and substitutions while playing ultimate frisbee so that the child sees the emphasis put on pacing activities but also hydrating well.

As a general rule, we suggest all children to hydrate regularly during the entire week and not only during sporting activities as it’ll help prevent dehydration – but to also increase fluid in-take before, during and after playing ultimate frisbee. This will help with body movement and reduce the chances of cramping. This is something I learnt the hard-way. I was terrible at keeping up my fluids and would cramp-up a lot as a child.

Which is why it’s important to introduce the significance of drinking enough water and fluids to prevent dehydration, maintain proper body function, reduce the chances of cramping and to support their athletic performance.

3. Healthy Lifestyle Habits:

As I write this in my 30s, I look back and am glad of the good, healthy lifestyle habits that sport taught me.

Keeping this principle in mind, it is good to encourage children to participate in a dynamic sport like ultimate frisbee that can instil healthy lifestyle habits in the current generation.

They learn the importance of regular physical activity and the benefits of maintaining an active lifestyle beyond sports practices and games.

Children involved in sports are more likely to adopt habits such as limiting sedentary screen time, getting enough sleep and avoiding unhealthy habits (such as smoking and alcohol consumption) that they’re bound to get exposed to as they become teenagers and young adults.

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4. Body Awareness:

Discovering how the body moves and functions is something that happens naturally as we grow up – it’s not something we’re consciously aware of – but when we grow up playing a sport, we learn of how we can stretch the capabilities of the body.

While playing ultimate frisbee, children develop an understanding of their physical abilities, strengths and areas that need improvement. This self-awareness promotes a better understanding of their overall health and encourages them to take proactive steps towards maintaining and improving their well-being.

5. Safety & Injury Prevention:

As children grow in their participation in ultimate frisbee, they learn about injury prevention and safety measures – it’s an essential life skill that helps as they mature into being young adults and move into their 20s.

We teach proper warm-ups and cool-downs, stretching exercises and techniques for avoiding common sports-related injuries. This knowledge helps them develop a sense of responsibility for their own physical health.

6. Long-Term Health Benefits:

Engaging in regular physical activity through ultimate frisbee has numerous long-term health benefits. It reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and improves bone and muscle health too.

Children who participate in sports regularly are more likely to carry these healthy habits into adulthood, leading to improved overall health and a reduced risk of health-related problems later in life.

7. Mental Health:

I have addressed this in detail in my blog post called Developing Emotional Well-Being in Children Through Ultimate Frisbee, but I’ll explain a bit in brief here too.

Physical activity in ultimate frisbee has a positive impact on mental health, because the regular dynamic movements of the sport releases endorphins, which are natural mood-boosting hormones. It reduces stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression.

As children grow older, they will understand that their participation in sport is not only beneficial for their physical health but also plays a vital role in maintaining good mental well-being.

By sharing all this, what I am trying to convey is that by incorporating health awareness components into our ultimate frisbee programs and by providing education about nutrition, hydration, injury prevention and overall healthy lifestyle choices, children can develop a greater understanding of their own health and make better and informed decisions for a healthier and more active life.

We, School of Ultimate wish to work closely with parents to help children and young adults lead healthy lives by contributing through coaching the game in our sessions in Mumbai. We’ve begun sessions for kids and young adults aged 7-10 and 11-16 years old.

To know more, check out our About Us page or FAQs on our Coaching