Are Children "Exercising Less"?

The British Heart Foundation has surveyed the activity levels of a thousand children and concluded that only one out of eight is getting in their recommended sixty minutes of activity per day. Apparently a fifth thought you only needed to do exercise if you were fat.

The article was reported in the BBC Health site, going on to remark that the problem of children being less and less active was spreading to younger groups. As often, the problem of childhood obesity is largely related to doing very much less and eating more. Some experts quote the availability of energy dense snacks as part of the problem of child obesity.

Children need to be active to build normal bone and muscle mass and develop the co-ordination to use their bodies productively. Getting into the swing of being active at an early age can be a good habit that stays with a child as they grow up, delivering health benefits over the long term.