What is Physical Literacy?
According to IPLA (International Physical Literacy Association), “Physical literacy can be described as the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life.”
So, what does Physical Literacy actually mean? In simple words, if a person is physically literate, it is easier for him to demonstrate a variety of physical movements with confidence and competence. This in turn helps him take up any sports with relative ease in later stages of life. He makes healthy and active choices which not only benefit him but society as a whole.
So, now we understand the terms and some benefits.
However, the question here is what makes it so important? Let me explain it to you. Let us take a simple analogy. Many students, by the time they reach senior school (grade 9 or even earlier) stop liking mathematics. What might be the reason for the dislike? The major reason for the dislike in most cases is the lack of understanding of fundamental concepts of mathematics. So, this makes learning advanced concepts almost impossible and this leads to a child’s withdrawal from the subject completely. Similarly, without the development of basic locomotor skills and movements, many children withdraw from physical activities and sports and turn to unhealthy and inactive choices.
So, if your child does not want to go out and play, then one of the reasons for unwillingness might be the lack of Basic Physical Literacy skills. Do you want to know why? You know, if your child does not have the Basic Physical Literacy Skill then there is a big chance that they will not be able to cope with other kids with higher physical literacy and superior activity level. So, while you would want your child to play with other kids, their level of PL skills is very low with respect to the kids you want your child to play with. This may lead to lack of confidence in one’s own ability which may further lead to complete withdrawal from physical activities.
And you know what happens due to lack of physical activity . The lack of activity can lead to obesity or a sedentary lifestyle and can become the foundation for diseases like coronary heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep and respiratory problems.
A physically active and literate child is not only confident in physical settings and has a higher chance of becoming an ace sports person but also carries a lesser risk of inactive lifestyle-related diseases. Further, research has suggested that an active lifestyle in the pediatric years is linked to positive social behavior and good academic performance (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201501/).
Physical Literacy is just like your literary skills. Your good literary skills can help you when you want to take up reading or writing as a habit at any point of time in your life. Similarly, a person with a good PL skill has a higher chance of making a healthy choice and going for physical activity over inactivity. In the present age where lack of physical activity has become a norm among our youth, the physical literate lifestyle has become all the more important. Otherwise, we will be moving towards a sedentary society & an unhealthy country.
At Xdrona we help your child in improving these Physical Literacy skills.
Contact us on info@xdrona.com
