Just one in 10 Scottish children achieve recommended levels of physical activity every day, a new study conducted for the Scottish Government has revealed. Opposition politicians claimed the findings were “alarming” at a time when obesity is a major problem for Scottish children. According to the research, the vast majority of 10 and 11-year-olds in Scotland were failing to meet guidelines, which say they should do at least one hour of moderate to vigorous exercise daily. The findings were based on information provided by 774 10 and 11-year-olds taking part in the long-standing “Growing Up in Scotland” study. It found that on average children were sedentary for 7.5 hours per day (7.7 hours during weekdays and 7.1 hours on weekends). Just 11 per cent of children managed 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) every day. This figure rose to 60 per cent when the requirement to breach the one hour barrier every day was removed and the average amount of moderate to physical activity per day was calculated across a longer period. On average it was found that children spent 73 minutes in moderate to vigorous physical activity per day – 76 minutes per weekday and 64 minutes per weekend day. Boys were more active than girls with males spending 78 minutes in MVPA compared with 68 minutes. Physical activity was measured by children reporting how much exercise they took or by wearing an activity monitor. The study found that a slightly higher proportion of children from deprived areas met the guidelines, but the difference was not statistically significant. Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/vast-majority-of-scottish-children-not-meeting-excercise-guideline-1-4519428
Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/vast-majority-of-scottish-children-not-meeting-excercise-guideline-1-4519428
[Source”indianexpress”]
