More than just the mind: the importance of physical exercise during school breaks
By Evan Ho
Exercise is crucial to a healthy lifestyle. Is this goal met by students at Renaissance College?
Students run around during break time. Most of the time, popular sports are played. Photograph: ESF Renaissance College Facebook
Once the clock turns to 1 p.m., RCHK explodes into a frenzy of chaos. Common sights include primary students running around everywhere, secondary students playing basketball and DP students chatting at tables.
Given some students are engaged in exercise and others are not, the question of “How important is exercise?” comes to mind. According to Better Health, exercising is key to a healthy lifestyle. In addition, it reduces health risks for a plethora of severe diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. This Australian state government website suggests at least thirty minutes of activity every day, so how are students at RCHK keeping up with this standard? Is the 1 p.m. lunch break being utilised to accomplish this? If not, is it because students are exercising outside of school? Or perhaps because of another reason?
To investigate this issue, data was collected over multiple days at break and averaged together. The table below shows data broken down by categorizing students by DP, MYP, girls, or boys.
The three dimensional pie chart displays the percentage of girls and boys participating in exercise at break.
A whopping zero Diploma Program girls were spotted participating in exercise in the basketball courts or undercover area! Another shocking statistic about the different demographics is how only 25.2% of girls participated, whereas 74.8% of boys did, as shown above. In addition, only 13% of all students exercising at break were DP students, displayed below.
The percentage of DP and MYP students exercising at break are presented.
The most mind-blowing statistic is how only 9.3% of all students in MYP and DP are exercising regularly at break. Interviews helped gather more understanding into why students are not exercising as much during break.
Students who did not regularly participate in fitness at break mainly stated that this was due to not having friends who were willing to play with them, being too busy, or exercising outside of school instead. One student mentioned how they “don’t (exercise) as much because it’s break. You are supposed to take a break.” This comical statement expresses one view that exercise is not in fact a relaxing activity for them.
Other students stated, “I would, but I don’t have people to play with” or “I used to play every day, but now I only play a couple days because I am super busy now.”
Some students expressed other views for not exercising as much at break. One individual explained how they “play football every weekday outside of school, Monday through Friday. I also occasionally run on Sundays, though only if I don’t have a lot of homework."
Another stated how “I do too much exercise outside of school, so I don’t exercise at break.” These interviews portray that a large majority of students participate in exercise outside of school, and therefore want to use their break time for other activities.
Taking all this into consideration, those students who do minimal exercise at break and also lack fitness activities outside of school seem to be struggling to meet the suggested thirty minutes of daily exercise.
Some of these students explained how they “only play volleyball one day a week during break” or deadpanned that, “No, I’m too lazy." These same students comprised the majority of students who said they did not get enough exercise to stay healthy. The most comical response provided the excuse that “I eat too much” to stay healthy.
These gathered responses provide interesting revelations: the majority of students use their out of school time for exercise, and if not, they exercise regularly at break. However, the trends suggest that the older the student, the less likely to exercise at break. This is also exacerbated if they are a girl.
Understandably, DP and older students have a lot more work, but this is no excuse for ignoring your health. Exercise is essential to not only stay physically fit, but also mentally fit. Those who do not get around 30 minutes of exercise per day, should make a greater effort to prioritise their health.
References:
Better Health Channel. (2018, August 26). Physical Activity- it's important.
Better Health Channel. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/physical-activity-its-important