89% of NZ teens fail new ‘physical’
A recent global report showed New Zealand teenagers to be among the most inactive in the world.
The study was based on the physical activity levels of 1.6 million students across 146 countries to determine how many of them adhere to the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of at least one hour of physical activity a day for teenagers. Australia was one of the worst performers, ranking 140, with New Zealand faring only slightly better at 138.
The report on physical activity trends among 11- to 17-year-olds found 89 per cent of young Kiwis and Australians were not active enough.
Christchurch student Molly Simpson, 16, wants to buck the trend. She recently joined Sport Canterbury’s new Move it O¯ tautahi project, which is aimed at getting more teenagers back into sport.
The project brings Netball Mainland, Canterbury Cricket and the Canterbury Rugby Union together to collaboratively run events at Christchurch schools, with the overall aim being to get more young people keen on sport and exercise.
Netball Mainland community and pathways general manager Geni Tuilagi is behind Move it O¯ tautahi, and hopes the project will encourage change in the habits of Kiwi teens.
There was a massive dropoff in sport participation in Canterbury from the age of 13, she said.
Celia Wade-Brown, the national secretary of Living Streets Aotearoa, said active transport was an ideal way to promote physical activity among schoolgoing children, but a lot needed to be done to make it a viable and attractive option for children and parents alike.
These include introducing regulations such as car-free zones at school start and finish times, walk-to-school monitoring, inschool programmes and co-ordinated infrastructure, and speed limit changes at a national level.
A document compiled from discussions held at the Active Living and Environment Symposium in Dunedin in February recommended the establishment of a cross-sector group to implement national physical activity strategies.
Recommendations in the document include initiatives such as walk-to-school days or so-called ‘‘walking buses’’ for children and adolescents, accelerating the rollout of cycle skills training at schools, organising cycle-to-school days, and making bicycles more affordable through subsidies.