November 22, 2019, 11:09 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Children and adolescents worldwide are becoming less active. According to a recent WHO study, the reasons include the rise of smartphones and decreasing safety in public spaces. Experts believe this alarming trend will continue to worsen.
One hour of physical activity per day is sufficient for children and adolescents, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)–but few achieve this. A WHO study found that globally, only one-fifth of 11- to 17-year-olds are this active. German adolescents also performed poorly in the study published in the journal “The Lancet”: In 2016, 79.7 percent of boys and even 87.9 percent of girls were not physically active enough. Compared to 2001, the figures for Germany have hardly changed, and there have been only slight improvements worldwide.
Playing on Smartphones Instead of Outdoors
“We had an electronic revolution that has obviously changed the activity patterns of adolescents–encouraging them to sit more, be less active, drive more, and walk less,” says Leanne Riley, one of the study’s co-authors. Ultimately, adolescents are playing more digitally than being truly active.
Another reason for the lack of physical activity is the issue of safety in some regions or environments. “There are environments where it is becoming increasingly dangerous to be outside and active. If it is not safe enough to be outside, then adolescents also walk less to school or ride their bikes,” Riley explains.
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The WHO recommends that children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 should engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Anything beyond that is additionally beneficial for health. Meanwhile, adults (18 to 64 years) should engage in at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week or alternatively at least 75 minutes of sports.
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Differences Between Boys and Girls
The difference observed in Germany between boys and girls is also reflected globally: While 77.6 percent of boys do not get enough exercise, the figure is 84.7 percent for girls. The largest gender differences were found in Ireland (17 percentage points) and the U.S. (16.5 percentage points). “Cultural aspects also play a role here. In some cultures, it is not customary for girls to be as active as boys, or they are not encouraged to be as active as the boys,” Riley explains. Overall, the proportion of inactive children was highest in South Korea and lowest in Bangladesh.
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Gloomy Future Forecasts
The WHO had originally set a goal to reduce the proportion of adolescents with insufficient physical activity to 70 percent by 2030. “We cannot meet this goal if these trends continue,” emphasizes Regina Guthold, study author and WHO expert on adolescent health.