Facing a Tough Fight
Today's kids can't keep up with their parents, at least as far as their physical fitness. An analysis of studies on millions of children around the world finds today's children don't run as fast or as far as their parents did when they were young.
The American Heart Association, which first publicized study results in 2013, says they are the first to show that children's fitness has declined worldwide over the last three decades.
On average, it takes children 90 seconds longer to run a mile than their counterparts did 30 years ago. Heart-related fitness has declined 5 percent per decade since 1975 for children ages 9 to 17, according to the association.
Dr. Mark Carlsson, a family practitioner in Butler for more than 30 years, said he's noticed the declining fitness of children in the 21st century.
“It's very, very hard to get kids moving. They are less motivated. There is more indoor stuff, so they're less motivated to get out and walk,” Carlsson said.
“And they're not getting good input from their parents. They don't see their parents walking. It's a snowball effect. It's a two- or three-tiered generational effect,” he said.
While the heart association recommends that children get no more than one to two hours of TV/computer/video games a day, the average 8-year-old spends eight hours a day using various forms of media, and teenagers often surpass 11 hours.
And all that screen-staring can have adverse health effects.
“Our belief here is that good health is important for all youths,” said Jason Groves, associate executive director of the Butler YMCA, 339 N. Washington St.
Groves said it is important that children learn positive early attitudes toward exercise.
“They need encouragement. Our programs emphasize the fun. Kids want to play and be active. There is no one-size fits all,” Groves said, which is why the Y offers a variety of activities.
Leeann Cramer, manager of ATA Taekwondo Center, 204 Sunset Drive, Center Township, said her younger martial arts students definitely want to play and be active.
“We actually have quite a few classes in lots of different age groups,” Cramer said. “We have classes every day.”Tiny Tigers is for students ages 4 to 6, and Karate Kids is for 7- to 10-year-olds, she said.“I haven't noticed a lack of fitness. They are full of energy,” Cramer said. “In fact, the lessons at this age are to teach them discipline, teach them to stand still and be quiet and listen.”She said Tiny Tigers classes last 30 minutes, Karate Kids, 45 minutes, and she recommends that young students have at least two lessons per week.This meshes with the health experts' recommendation that children age 6 and older get 60 minutes of moderately vigorous activity over a day. Only one-third of American children do now.“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.Cramer has seen this herself.“I mean some kids don't have that much to do. There's no recess at school. And they're on the bus all day, so there's not enough time for them to play on their own,” she said.“When we get them here, we're working them pretty good to burn off 'the wiggles' they've had all day.”Carlsson said because of modern dangers, either real or perceived, children don't play outside the way their parents and grandparents did.“The world is not as safe. Children don't go out because there are too many bad people,” Carlsson said.Also, he said today's children have their activities more closely regimented.“With all this organized activity there is less chance to do 'old-fashioned' stuff, to go out and run around,” Carlsson said.The heart association says today about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963.And being inactive and young can lead to being an adult and having health problems, he said.“I see a lot more younger diabetics, more high blood pressure in younger people, more sleep apnea,” he said.The 2013 study was led by Grant Tomkinson, an exercise physiologist at the University of South Australia. Researchers analyzed 50 studies on running fitness — a key measure of cardiovascular health and endurance — involving 25 million children ages 9 to 17 in 28 countries from 1964 to 2010.The studies measured how far children could run in 5 to 15 minutes and how quickly they ran a certain distance, ranging from half a mile to two miles. Today's kids are about 15 percent less fit than their parents were, researchers concluded.To develop good exercise habits, the YMCA's Groves recommended letting young children try a wide range of activities before settling on any one sport.“Bodies are made to move, made to have fun,” he said. “A lot of exercising is connecting with people. You stay active if you are exercising along with people who enjoy those things.”
