Exercise protects the brain from damage and disease.

Studies also show that exercise protects the brain from aging and injury. Older adults that regularly exercise perform better in cognitive tasks and have lower rates of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. They also recover stronger from strokes and from accidental brain injury.

One can argue that people that exercise have many factors in their lives that can contribute to these findings. For example, they smoke less, eat better, etc. However, studies in laboratory animals also support the idea that exercise is protective. Animals that are exercised are protected against traumatic brain injury in laboratory tests and don’t develop the extent of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease in model systems.

Studies also show that in addition to exercise’s protective role, it is a valuable therapeutic tool for brain function. Fitness training improves cognitive functions relative to planning, scheduling, task coordination and attention. Adults that exercise have more grey matter, representing more brain cells, than adults that don’t exercise.

Focus on the young family.

All of the beneficial effects of exercise are compounded by starting early in life. It’s kind of like compound interest in the bank. The earlier you start saving, the more money there is to earn interest in the end. Yet, unfortunately, schools are cutting physical education for budgetary reasons. Soccer moms must unite and get exercise back in our schools.

Inducing physically active behavior in our kids is crucial. Studies show that people tend to continue the lifestyles they are exposed to at an early age. Ignoring the value of physical activity now will make them more likely to do so as adults. In order for our kids to be cognitively active adults all the way through life, we must instill the importance of physical activity today. If we do not, we are doing them a huge disfavor.

Many of us as parents forget about looking far into our kid’s futures. We have so much to worry about in day-to-day activities that keeping our kids from premature entry into the old-folks home is not at the forefront of our minds. Unfortunately, 2 out of 3 adults age 65 or older don’t engage in any regular physical activity and are not getting the brain protection they could be.

The actions that we take with our kids now and the behaviors that we promote will have a huge impact on their life long success. Yes, once they are out of our homes they are their own people and can choose to live their lives how they want. Nevertheless, we have to give them the leg-up now to set them up for the successes they deserve.

Even if you are a new parent for the first time, please be aware that you are influencing many decades by what you deem important today.

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