HEALTH AND FITNESS: Failing grades for physical activity (again)

It’s probably no surprise that the majority of Americans are not active enough. Only about half of adults meet even the minimum recommendation for physical activity of 150 minutes per week. Compounding this problem is the fact that many people spend much of their time at work and home being sedentary – some spend over 12 hours per day sitting!

A low level of physical activity is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, some cancers and, of course, obesity in adults. Becoming more active is probably the most important change a sedentary person can make to improve their health. The impact is similar to a smoker who quits.

What may be surprising is that this is a problem for children, too. Less than half of children ages 6-11 meet the minimum recommendation for physical activity. Among teenagers, it is less than 20 percent! The health effects of too little activity in kids is similar to that in adults.

Current recommendations call for children under the age of 18 to attain at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity at least five days per week. In younger kids this can be achieved through active play. In teens it is more likely to include organized sports and games.

The National Physical Activity Plan is a set of recommendations, programs and initiatives designed to promote an active lifestyle at work, school and home for all Americans. It was established by a coalition of health professionals and researchers called the Physical Activity Alliance.

This group recently released an updated report card on physical activity for children and youth that graded the success of efforts to promote activity in several areas. The results show that we are failing to meet even minimum goals and recommendations. Here is a summary of that report card:

• Overall physical activity: D-. Only 26-42 percent of 6 to 11-year-old children and just 15 percent of kids ages 12-17 meet the 60 minutes per day activity goal. This has not increased in the past decade.

• Sedentary behaviors: D-. Only 20 percent of children meet the recommended upper limit of two hours of screen time, which includes TV, computer, and video games, per day.

• Active transportation: D-. Only about 10 percent of children walk or bike to school regularly.

• Physical education in school: D-. Only about half of children attend at least one PE class per week.

• Organized sports: C-. About 51 percent of children participate in sports, a decline over the past 5 years.

Based on these grades, American children are not getting enough physical activity. Worse, this report shows no improvement over the past few years, so things aren’t getting any better.

But it isn’t fair to say that our children are earning these grades – it’s the adults who are failing! Most children are at the mercy of parents, teachers and other adults who decide how they will spend their time at school and at home.

The report card shows that we are either not allowing our kids to be active enough or limiting opportunities for them to move and play. This isn’t necessarily a conscious effort, but is likely a consequence of the physical activity habits of adults that our children adopt.

Given the importance of regular activity for growth, development, health and academic success, getting our kids to be more active should be among our highest priorities. This requires both individual action and organized community efforts to make physical activity and exercise a part of every child’s day.

And while we are at it, we (the adults) should make this same effort. Perhaps the failing grades on the recent report card will motivate us, too.