New Study Shows Children Less Fit Than Their Parents

It is certainly an unintended consequence of a technological era where children spend hours playing on gaming systems and television screens employing technology that in their parents’ childhood either didn’t exist or cost a small fortune but the consequence is that children are now less physically fit than their parents were according to a new study.

“It makes sense. We have kids that are less active than before,” said Dr. Stephen Daniels, a University of Colorado pediatrician and spokesman for the heart association.

“Kids aren’t getting enough opportunities to build up that activity over the course of the day,” Daniels said. “Many schools, for economic reasons, don’t have any physical education at all. Some rely on recess” to provide exercise.

The study was conducted by the American Heart Association (AHA) which conducted the study on children in the age group of 9 to 17. The AHA study found that children now run a mile 90 seconds slower than their parents were able to do in 1975. The decline in heart fitness for each subsequent decade since 1975 is 5%. As per the AHA, children should get 60 minutes of moderate exercise a day. The trouble is that today that activity has to come from exercise. Back in the day, it was called being outside playing. The AHA estimates that only 33% of children get sufficient daily exercise.

Also, in 1975 schools offered a course in physical education or PE. Nowadays, many schools have dropped that course for budgetary reasons leaving children only the recess period for play. These factors and others have children on average 15% less fit than their parents.

On The Web:
Kids worldwide are less fit than their parents were, study shows
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/19/kids-are-less-fit-than-their-parents-were-study-shows/