Health at any Age?

Hi lovelies,

Would you look at me - another post after just two days! I am doing well, aren't I? Actually, I went a little gung-ho on the Halloween nail ideas and now I've had to boost up my posting frequency to make sure I get them all in. Also, isn't gung-ho the weirdest word to write down. When I first wrote it, I was convinced that it was actually made up, but it isn't, it's a real word. Anyway, moving on from the linguistics lesson, lets crack on with today's post, shall we?



I feel like this post might be a bit of a Unpopular Opinion one, but it's something that's been niggling at the back of my mind for a while now.

Can you be too young to be 'healthy'?

By itself, even I can see that's a pretty weird question. Being healthy and well is what we all aim for in life and so why would there be age restrictions on that?

Had you asked me that a year ago, I would have resolutely disagreed with my above question - health is for everyone! But now I'm not so sure...

Isn't this the cutest picture. Source

As some of you may know, I work in child care and a couple of months ago, one of the kids said something to me that sparked off the above question in my mind. I had been trying to get the kids up onto the oval because we had a soccer coach that afternoon and I was trying to get the kids enthused about going up playing with him. I had succeeded in convincing about half and was walking with them up to the oval. That's when one girl turned to me and said,

'I don't know why everyone doesn't want to come up to the oval and play sports. It's such a nice day and I love doing exercise because it makes me feel good and it makes me strong and it gets you healthy'

And I was like, 'Mmmmhmmm. That's nice, yes it's a nice day and I like sport too and what? Oh yeah, it does make you healthy, I guess?'

I don't even really know why I was so taken aback by the last bit. I guess because I wasn't expecting it. That's what I like about working with kids. They tell it like it is. They do what they want to do. And yes, sometimes that's infuriating, but for the most part, it's pretty refreshing. They don't have ulterior motives. They tell it too you straight.

If they think your make-up looks bad, they'll tell you that. If they think that some kid is being a poo-head, they'll tell them that. And if they think you're the coolest girl in the world? You bet your ass they'll tell you that.

Ahhh yes, the paint.... Source

They don't yet have the social cues and weird ideas that society expects you to have and follow. And I think that was what threw me about that comment, that it was such an adult idea to have, the association of exercise with health. For the most part, kids do a huge amount of exercise. They run around, they do squats, they lift weights and loads more. But for them, it's not a workout. Instead, it's play. They play tag, they play musical bobs, they haul themselves along the monkey bars and build towers with heavy blocks and climb onto stools that are taller than them. They play dodge and they play Kung-Fu Princess (yes that is a real game) and they have fun. They don't exercise because it makes them healthy, they exercise because it makes them happy.

And yet, so many people lose that sense of happiness when they get older. The idea of exercise as this magical, fix all, cure all thing is so drilled into us that all the time I see people force themselves to go for a run, or go to the gym, even when they hate doing it.

Why?

Because it will make them healthy.

Because it will make them look good and therefore, feel good about themselves.

Because it will make them happy.

Don't get me wrong, all of these things do get achieved by exercise, to an extent. It is important to be active and to be moving around. It does keep the body working and in good health. The old mantra 'If you don't use it, you'll lose it' is very true in this case. It is true that when you can look in the mirror and be happy with your reflection, you will feel better about yourself. And yes, it has been proven time and time again that exercise produces endorphins and endorphins makes you feel happier.

But exercise can only do so much. Maybe you're recovering from an sickness and are very weak still. The last thing your body needs is for you to be going out and burning heaps of energy. Maybe the reason that you're not happy with yourself is not something that can be fixed by exercise. Maybe it's something that can only be achieved when you look inside yourself and spend time with yourself and learn to accept yourself for who you really are, and learn to love your body as it is, not as it might be. And maybe, doing exercise won't make you happier, Maybe you're unhappy because of other things in your life, and no amount of exercise is going to fix your work, or any relationship.

Proof that exercise does not fix everything. Sometimes it is just confusing. AKA I really like this stupid picture - look at her face, she looks so panicked. Source

But I'm getting off topic.

My point is that it's such an adult reason to like exercise and I wasn't expecting to hear it from a 6 year old.

The other thing that bothers me about that comment is the definition of healthy. The version of healthy that she was talking about wasn't 'to be capable and active and happy and to have a body that can do amazing things' type of healthy. It was the 'to make sure you don't get fat' kind of healthy. And I don't like that.

Maybe I'm just extra sensitive to stuff like that because of my history with an eating disorder, but I think that kids, especially ones as young as 6 shouldn't really be all that concerned with what's 'healthy' and what's not.  I feel like we should be teaching be teaching them to be doing things because it feels good and we should be teaching them to be listening to their bodies. And if their bodies want to run around and play sport - that's fantastic! But if they'd rather sit in the shade and read a book - then that is equally great! Because our bodies want different things at different times and we should be teaching kids to listen to these signals, instead of forcing them to stuff that they don't want to do. Obviously, there will be times where we have to push on and do things we don't want to do because we're tired or a bit sick or just over it, but there are also times where we can make our own decisions.

So in the end, I don't even think I answered my original question. I don't think there is a limit on an age at which you can be healthy, but I do kind of feel that there is an age limit on being health conscious. Kids have enough to worry about as it is. I don't think we need to be lumping them with concerns about nutritional content and staying at their optimum health.