Depression and anxiety have become a common phenomenon in Africa and is now creeping into the lives of some undergraduate students. According to individuals who participated in sports, there have been some benefits associated with physical activities that have over time reduced anxiety amongst students as well as positively improve mental health. It’s not just your body that benefits from sports, playing sports contributes to your wellbeing, helping you prevent depression and increase self-esteem.
This notion is further supported by health professionals (University of Missouri Childrens’ Hospital), that playing sports is a key strategy for reducing stress because the body releases feel-good endorphins during exercises. It’s also true that some sports are associated with particular health advantages. For example, pushups can help achieve greater bone density because of the frequent body lifting. People who play volleyball benefit from increased hand-eye coordination and flexibility. Table -Tennis also helps players increase hand-eye coordination, while it also promotes better brain health because of the fast thinking involved.
According to Mr. Musa Mohammed, the Head of Sports, at Skyline University Nigeria (SUN), “Making just a few changes in your lifestyle can help you live longer”. Fortunately, degree courses or university admissions department has taken initiative to develop stakeholders both physically and mentally. To keep the body looking healthier, it begins with throwing away those unhealthy behaviours from our system. Unhealthy behaviours like smoking habits, drinking too much alcohol and drug addiction should be jettisoned, while a healthy lifestyle, regular exercises such as running can add up to give you healthy body and fitness.
Another reason that sports are important for health is that participating in sports can encourage positive lifestyle decisions. For example, if you belong to a football league, you might spend your evenings and weekends practising with your team rather than stopping for a snack after a lecture or ordering junk food.
Sports contribute to muscle development, coordination, cardiovascular health and numerous other benefits associated with disease prevention; physical activity can help ward off chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression and osteoporosis.
Finally, whether you’re hoping to get stronger, lose weight or lower your odds of disease or all of the above, you ought to take a moment to establish your baseline. Sports of any kind is highly encouraged.