Children in Competitive Sports

Participation of Children in Competitive Sports As more parents enroll their children into competitive sports like football, gymnastics, and swimming to name a few, the controversy whether this type of competitive participation is beneficial or not continue to grow. Supporters for competitive sports propose arguments like it encourages physical activity and teaches good character while opponents claim that sports are no longer fun for the children and promote an inappropriate win-at-all cost mentality. [ The best compromise would be to offer a low-pressure fun environment from the coaches and parents that emphasize that children have an enjoyable time.] The main supporting argument to allow children to play sports is because it offers a healthy avenue for physical activity. A study had linked a sedentary lifestyle with "the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity" in adults with their origins rooted in their childhood (Massin ). Even more, many of today's children do not get enough physical activity, spending nearly 20 hours a week in front of a television, making it the most time spent on any one activity besides sleeping (Boyse and Song "Television"). As a result, nearly a quarter of all children in America are considered obese according to Boyse (Obesity and Overweight). One reason is probably due to the lack of physical activity today's children engage in. An easy way to prevent children from becoming obese is to encourage them to play a sport which requires them to stay physically active. Also, according to the results of a research done by a group on the cardiorespiratory system of children, they recommended "controlled physical competitive activity in children because of its benefits on cardiorespiratory function and the absence of adverse effects" (Caballero 371). Children also learn many good values from participating in sports and from winning and losing games. Sheehy learned the value of working hard and