Caloric Expenditure During Activities for Kids

The Body and Calories

• Kids Health experts advise that your child does not need to burn off all the calories he consumes every day in vigorous play and activities because the body needs some of that energy just to maintain its vital systems, such as heart and lungs. It also uses the energy for common daily activities, such as standing, sitting, walking from the living room to the kitchen to a bedroom, and chores, like making his bed, showering or bathing, brushing his teeth and hair and getting dressed. The greatest caloric expenditure comes from aerobic activity, which raises the heart rate and respiration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of this kind of vigorous exercise every day for the best health benefits.

Factors in Calorie Burn

• Calculating how many calories your child expends for any given activity depends on many factors. The Nutribase website's caloric expenditure chart illustrates that your child's current weight can be one indicator of how many calories she burns for a given activity. Her fitness level also plays a role, as her heart and lungs must work harder when she is out of shape, but as she continues, she will be able to complete the same activity with less effort, which may decrease the calories burned for that activity over time. The time duration of the activity also factors in, because the longer your child maintains the elevated aerobic heart rate, the more calories she will burn. This can be difficult to measure, given the sporadic bursts of energy in children's play, but in general, you can estimate whether your child is getting the one hour minimum daily aerobic expenditure commonly recommended in the fitness and health industries. For a caloric expenditure estimate, look up a calorie burn calculator online or use a calorie burn by activity chart.

Intensity

• The intensity of the exercise or activity also affects your child's caloric expenditure. Typical definitions of intensity levels can be subjective and confusing for parents and kids who want to know whether their activities really count toward the aerobic goals for the day. Generally speaking, the U.S. Department of Agriculture website advises that children need to exert their bodies to "moderate to vigorous intensity" every day. What is "moderate" or "vigorous?" The USDA explains that if your child's breathing and heart rate noticeably increase but he can still talk to you, call it moderate. If his heart rate is significantly higher than normal and he is too out of breath to hold a normal conversation, it has reached "vigorous" levels. The harder his heart and muscles have to work during an activity, the more calories he will burn.

Calories In, Calories Out

• Some parents may not want to take the time and effort to calculate the exact calorie expenditure for every one of their child's activities, given all the subjective influences that don't fall neatly in line. The good news is that such specificity is not required to look after your child's health. Usually the main point of tracking calorie burn is to balance it with food intake to prevent overeating and weight gain, or undereating and excessive, unhealthy weight loss. Children generally do not need to be on such a formal and strict plan, though, Kids Health professionals inform parents. It really is as simple as "calories in, calories out," and you don't need a mathematical formula to tell you whether your child has a healthy diet and daily activity level. As long as you offer her healthy food in healthy portion sizes and avoid allowing her to get carried away with sugary, fat-laden junk foods, constant snacking or sedentary activities, her growing body will balance out what it needs to stay healthy.