Study reveals drop in children’s fitness level

KOCHI: Girls here are much healthier than boys. In Kochi, 70% girls have healthy body mass index (BMI) in contrast to 64 % boys, while in Thiruvananthapuram, 69 % girls had healthy BMI as compared to 63 % boys. Even nationally, 69% girls have a healthier BMI compared to 62% boys. In other words, almost 30 % to 35 % children have high BMI, an indicator of high body fatness.
Both in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, almost 25 % to 30 % school children don't have enough flexibility and body strength. While 75 % students in Kochi and 76 % in Thiruvananthapuram had sprint capacity, only 63 % in Kochi and 78 % in Thiruvananthapuram had flexibility. When it comes to lower body strength 71 % in Kochi and 41 % in Thiruvananthapuram had adequate strength, while 83 % in Kochi and 68 % in Thiruvananthapuram had adequate upper body strength. Only 69 % school children in Kochi and 68 % in Thiruvananthapuram had abdominal strength.
This was revealed in the 7th annual health and fitness study conducted by EduSports. The study focussed on the health and fitness levels of school children between the age group of 7 to 17. School principals and doctors both agree that health of children is a matter of concern, especially when there are some children who are underweight and some are overweight.
“We encourage our students to engage in some sort of physical activity. Normally there is a tendency amongst some students, especially girls, to stand in a corner and chat during the sports period. Everyone should be asked to take up some kind of sports to keep themselves physically active,” said Kochi Sahodaya secretary Jaya Sabin. Thiruvananthapuram based paediatrician Dr Devakumar V K said that they are increasingly seeing overweight children. “Children now don’t have enough time or place to play and they are eating more of junk food,” said Dr Devakumar.
“Exercise is an important aspect of school health programme. It is important that schools keep minimum 4 to 6 periods a week for sports,” said former president of India Academy of Pediatrics, Dr Sachidananda Kamath. Study covered, 1,69,932 children in 326 schools, both CBSE and ICSE, across 26 states in the academic year 2015-2016. “Intervention is required to reverse the increasing levels of inactivity and sedentary lifestyle of children,” said EduSports co-founder Parminder Gill.