A generation of unfit kids

WE all want our kids to be healthy but research by the child health journal, Acta Paediatrica, has revealed that our childrens’ physical well being is suffering - and it’s being blamed on online culture.

The results from a survey led by Dr Gavin Sandercock, a children’s fitness expert at Essex University, showed primary school children are becoming weak and unable to do physical tasks that the previous generation found easy.  It has refreshed concerns about the shift away from outdoor activities in favour of the computer and TV.

A group of 315 ten year-olds were compared to 309 kids of the same age in 1998.  Results found that the number of sit-ups they can do has declined by 27 per cent between 1998 and 2008, arm strength had fallen 26 per cent and grip strength by seven per cent.  It also showed that one in 20 children could not hold their weight when hanging from wall bars in 1998, as opposed to one in ten in 2008.

Dr Sandercock said: "This is probably due to changes in activity patterns, such as taking part in fewer activities like rope-climbing at school and tree-climbing for fun. These activities boost children's strength, making them able to lift and hold their own bodyweight."

The research also showed that the kids had the same body mass index (BMI) as those in the previous decade. That means the children’s bodies are likely to contain less muscle and more fat.

"That's really worrying from a health point of view. It's good news that their BMI hasn't risen, but worrying that pound for pound they're weaker and probably carrying more fat," said Sandercock.

Two years ago Dr Sandercock showed that fitness levels in British children were falling faster than anywhere else in the world.

Tam Fry from the Child Growth Foundation said "Climbing trees and ropes used to be normal for children, now fear of legal action stops the child climbing in the first place."

The researchers have asked ministers to reduce their reliance on the National Child Measurement Programme, which surveys primary schoolchildren's BMI, and carry out fitness testing in all schools. However, as yet The Department of Health has no plans to introduce fitness testing.