HEALTH THROUGH SPORT

Sport provides children with the perfect match between a healthy body and a healthy psyche and it shows them that the end result can be measured by the amount of effort they put into something. It also functions as the best way and means of taking care of one’s health that begins in early childhood. The human body was made to move and sport helps it reach the optimal level of competence in a natural way. Taking part in sports through play and fun stimulates intelligence, develops tolerance and positive habits, and prevents addiction. Science has drawn our attention to the fact that taking up sports helps us learn more easily and provides our bodies and brains with more oxygen and nutrients. People who take up sports develop a resistance to diseases that are typical in modern society, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and different degrees of psychological disorders. Sport allows children to be active while playing and spending time with their peers, as well as to acquire skills, knowledge and experience, and it cannot be replaced by any other activity. It also teaches us time management and makes us emotionally and psychologically stronger. Athletes are characterized by self-control, and the awareness of one’s abilities builds self-confidence. Taking part in sport also teaches us how to set goals for ourselves and achieve them through our own work, helping us succeed in work and life as we mature. Naturally, we can take up sport as a form of recreation, but it can also become our future profession, and different forms of sport have a therapeutic purpose. There are no limits that stop someone from doing sports, so every child should be included in an appropriate form of sport. An athletic lifestyle includes healthy behaviour towards oneself, one’s family, society and nature. Children who are bored are a danger to themselves and their environment. Their families and society should therefore allow them to use sport as a means of achieving their goals, developing their creativity, broadening their experiences, being happy, content and free, and developing a sense of responsibility. Experts and society should lead the way in helping people take advantage of their rights and possibilities of taking up sports so that children can grow into healthy, happy and responsible people. Prof. Mirna Andrijašević, PhD Faculty of Kinesiology