July 14, 2025, 1:46 am | Read time: 6 minutes
Playing on the phone for hours and having no interest in sports? A new study reveals that this is unfortunately not just a stereotype when it comes to children and teenagers in Germany. This is despite the fact that children naturally have an inherent urge to be active.
According to the “MoMo 2.0” study1, only about 20 percent of all children and adolescents meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of at least 60 minutes of exercise per day. In contrast, screen time exceeds three hours a day.2 What does this mean for the physical and mental health of our children? FITBOOK took a closer look at the study and spoke with sports physician Prof. Christine Joisten from the German Sport University Cologne about causes, effects, and solutions.
Overview
What’s Behind the Numbers?
The MoMo study—full name: Motor Skills Module Study—is a nationwide research project by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and part of a large children’s health study by the Robert Koch Institute. Since 2003, MoMo has been examining how fit, active, and healthy children and adolescents in Germany are. 4,500 children and adolescents between the ages of four and seventeen participated in the study at nearly 200 locations in Germany.
What makes MoMo special: The data was not only collected through questionnaires, but the height and weight of participating children were measured, sports tests were conducted, and actual movement behavior was recorded: pedaling on a bicycle ergometer and movement sensors similar to fitness trackers. This aimed to realistically depict everyday movement and accurately determine actual fitness.
Too Little Exercise Is a Problem for Children
The WHO recommends at least 60 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per day and exercises that strengthen muscles and bones at least three days a week.3 This is especially important for growing children: Exercise promotes healthy growth, strong bones, and the development of gross and fine motor skills. If children and adolescents do not move enough, it can quickly become a problem:
- Physical health: Children who do not move enough are more likely to develop obesity4, high blood pressure, or lipid metabolism disorders—even type 2 diabetes can appear in childhood.5
- Weaker academic performance: Numerous studies show that exercise improves memory, concentration, and learning ability. Children who exercise regularly perform measurably better in school.6 However, the more leisure time is spent with little movement and a lot of screen time, the worse the grades were.7
- Poor sleep: Children who do not move enough often sleep poorly, have trouble falling asleep, or wake up more frequently at night.8 And those who sleep poorly have less energy the next day, are less focused, and more easily stressed.
- Mental strain: Studies show that too little exercise can negatively affect the mood and self-esteem of children and adolescents.9,10 Children who exercise regularly are emotionally more balanced and less likely to show symptoms of anxiety or depression.11
- Screen time as an amplifier: The more time spent in front of screens, the less movement is part of everyday life—and other unhealthy habits become stronger.12
More Exercise–Here’s How!
Get off the couch, into the sneakers—how can that work? Sufficient motivation is not only a problem for many adults. But healthy movement starts much earlier than sports, says Prof. Christine from the German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP). Her secret tip for more exercise in childhood and adolescence: “Clean your room!” She laughs, but of course, there’s a clever principle behind it: Integrate movement into everyday life without it feeling like sports.
Children’s Exercise Pyramid
This can also be found in the so-called “Children’s Exercise Pyramid”13: The base is everyday movement—things that happen incidentally: biking or scootering to school, walking the dog, or helping with vacuuming. Six times a day for five to ten minutes. The middle tier belongs to leisure activities: jumping rope, playing badminton with friends, or a round on rollerblades–four times a day for fifteen minutes would be ideal. Movement games often work better than structured sports, especially for younger children: tag games, running games, or games with special everyday materials like soap bubbles, newspaper, cloths, or balls. Parents can get really creative! At the top is the sports level: really exert yourself! Whether swimming, basketball, or dance, twice a day for 15 minutes of sweating is recommended.
Apps Can Also Help Motivate Children to Exercise
“Pokémon GO was a huge success a few years ago,” recalls Prof. Joisten. Pokémon GO is a game where you have to go to certain places to catch cartoon characters on your phone screen. “Zombies, Run” works similarly, essentially a running training with a spooky factor. There are now hundreds of fitness apps for children and adolescents. In any case, parents should keep an eye on which apps their children use and where they come from. She recommends the “Kitu-App” to parents, which provides ideas for movement games to parents and trainers.
And similar to adults, children and adolescents can also be motivated by small “challenges,” suggests Prof. Joisten: jumping jacks, somersaults, anything that children enjoy and can perhaps even be expanded into a family challenge.
Caution When Buying New Sports Equipment for Motivation
Prof. Joisten is a bit more cautious about buying new sports equipment to motivate. “It’s hard to predict how much it will help. Something like Spikeball (a team sport where a small ball is bounced on a round net in the middle, editor’s note) or a giant trampoline can be very well received. But it can also happen that the equipment just sits around—like the exercise bike for us adults,” she smiles. However, such equipment can be very good if children want to try things out in a safe space without the fear of being laughed at, she says. “However, it doesn’t help much if the parents are sitting on the couch watching TV during that time.” And that’s where Prof. Joisten comes to her central advice.
Only one in five children gets enough exercise
Healthy Meal Prep With the Air Fryer: Cook for the Week in 2 Hours
With Back Squats, You Can Really Kick-Start Calorie Burning
Expert Advice from Prof. Christine Joisten
“The most important thing is to be an active role model,” emphasizes Prof. Joisten. “If parents model movement, the likelihood is high that their children will adopt it.” Of course, it’s often easier to just pack the kids into the car when going shopping. Prof. Joisten understands this—she has four children herself and knows how stressful everyday life can be. “But whenever possible and time allows, it’s better to walk or bike to the store.
The same goes for climbing stairs: Sure, it takes patience, children are sometimes slower than we are when taking the steps—but it’s another piece of everyday movement and they learn that it’s normal. If this is done consistently, movement becomes part of the family lifestyle and everyone benefits,” she promises. If parents are unsure about their children’s fitness and which exercise program is suitable: The DGSP has developed a free app—fitforhealth—that offers various fitness and flexibility tests for children and adults.14