The John Tung Foundation yesterday encouraged parents and children to jump rope frequently as a way of combating depression and improving their health.
Foundation president Yau Sea-wain (姚思遠) said a survey it conducted on teenagers in 2004 found that people who said they had a bad relationship with their parents also tended to have more serious problems with depression, while a survey conducted in the US showed that parents’ levels of exercise related to exercise levels of their children.
The foundation also cited research by National Yang-Ming University that said that elementary-school children who jumped rope for 30 minutes a day for 20 weeks had enhanced nervous systems and improved learning abilities.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The foundation began working with five elementary schools last year to promote jump rope activities, and participating students have jumped rope more than 163 million times in only few months, it said, adding that exercise had improved some of the children’s physical and mental health.
The foundation said a mother of a student surnamed Huang (黃) told them that since she and her son started jumping rope every day, her son has grown several centimeters and did not have any sick days during the semester, while in the past he had needed 10 sick-leave days per semester.
Huang told the foundation that he gradually progressed from just jumping one jump at a time to jumping continuously several times, and this had given him greater confidence.
Chan Chia-chen (詹佳真), a physician at Taipei City Hospital’s Chung-Hsing Branch, said that when children receive encouragement from others for small improvements, they gain self-confidence and continue to improve themselves, leading to a positive cycle that also helps them deal with difficulties.
She said that if parents can accompany and support their children in these activities, family dynamics could improve and help stabilize the children’s emotions.
The foundation said a survey it conducted in 2011 found that up to 92.7 percent of students said they would be more willing to exercise if they were invited to do it with friends or family.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS