It is no secret that the rays of the sun are a special gift from the universe to us. Sunshine brings positivity into our life. They are abundant with goodness and help our body with many health benefits. In our childhood days, sun rays would fall inside the houses and brighten the mood.

Our after-school evenings would remind the time we spent playing in the rough weather with scorching sun, incessant rain, or strong winds. No harsh weather deterred us from playing outside. We longed for those bright hours after school or weekends every day to enjoy the fun… But gone are those days. With tall buildings and congested rows of houses, sunshine is a grape on the tall branch that we all long for like the fox.

Drift in Our Lifestyle

Changing lifestyles over the years have put an end to outdoor play and children now spend most of their time indoors. These days children are either glued to the television or online games. Technological advancement has eaten up the kid's playtime spent outdoors. Even if they get out of the gadgets and play indoors, sunshine is not abundant and direct on the skin with the cooped houses and locality. Thanks to the expanding real estate and growing population.

Should we blame this on changing lifestyle? How can we bring about change in such practices to ensure the healthy and wholesome development of our children? The only solution is to encourage them in more outdoor activities. The bright light levels found outside aren't just beneficial to plants. They are also crucial for human beings. Learn the health benefits that sunlight exposure brings into the life of our kids.

Sunshine Vitamin – Beefs up Muscles and Bones

Go outside to get some sunshine. About 90% of the body’s vitamin D is produced when sunlight hits the skin. It plays a crucial role in our daily metabolism and significant for kids' all-round development.

Vitamin D facilitates better absorption of calcium into the body. Calcium aids in bone development and it is essential for growing children. Vitamin D deficiency in the prenatal period causes rickets in babies characterized by poor motor and bone development. In teens and adults, it causes bone pain and muscle weakness.

In women, it causes brittleness in the bones leading to osteoporosis.

Vitamin D is a natural resource to strengthen muscle and brain development in children. Hence it is vital for children of all ages and especially the just born to get exposed in sunlight for at least 15-30 minutes. It is said that exposure to sunlight helps with neonatal jaundice.

It is time to gift the body with the sunshine vitamin in the early morning hours for a healthy and happy child.

Ticking Internal Clock – Healthy Lifestyle

Choose the rooms with better exposure to sunlight as the kid’s bedroom. Opening the curtains of your kids’ bedroom in the morning lets natural sunlight enter. When the sun rays lit up the room and fill it with shine, they get a natural urge to wake up. The sunlight wakes up our body and brain. It sets up the circadian rhythm (Sleep-wake cycle) or the internal biological clock generating a biological kick to rise and shine.

A healthy body is a result of a healthy lifestyle. The routine biological clock helps them with better metabolism and detoxification of the body. Children who spend more time in the sunshine are naturally able to sleep better at night, which improves their ability to function during the day. Also, when they rise up by themselves in the morning without insistence from you, they would embrace the new day with loads of positivity.

Happy Hormone

Ever wondered why we feel happy and positive during summers and welcome a sunny day? Sunshine makes us happy both physically and mentally and there is a reason for it. Exposure to sunlight influences the production of serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain.

It regulates mood and emotion. Serotonin is referred to as a happy hormone that boosts the feeling of happiness and security in kids. Rightly as nicknamed, it helps in the emotional wellbeing and stimulates the brain development in children. The elevated level of serotonin in the body is credited to the higher level of joy and happiness in children. So, let’s raise happy kids.

Keep the Diseases at Bay

The natural light from the sun not only results in an uplifted mood but higher energy levels as well. It gives your kids more drive to conquer the day. More time outdoors ensure they are not sedentary and involve in many activities to move around keeping them active. Playing outdoors is also a way to boost up their immune systems and keep the diseases at bay.

The sunlight stimulates the immune cells in the body resulting in a fortified immune system. It helps them with better recovery to injuries, less infection. A well-developed immune system also prevents cancer in children.

Summertime is beneficial for children for their wholesome development. Make sure they spend an ample amount of time outdoors this summer, and it will reflect in their mind, body, and spirit!