Children not getting enough exercise in SA

WHEN it comes to running‚ jumping and climbing trees, South African children score a big fat C.

This is according to the results of the Healthy Active Kids South Africa Report Card for last year‚ produced by 33 academics and content experts.

This is the fourth time South African children were included in the global research project since 2007.

For their overall physical activity, South African children scored a C grade‚ meaning only about half of them get enough exercise.

In 2014, South African children scored a D for overall physical activity.

Wits University exercise physiology researcher Dr Rebecca Meiring said‚ however‚ that children were still not getting enough exercise.

“In South Africa, we can attribute this to the fast rate of urbanisation with people moving from rural regions to urban areas‚ where there is a lot of access to fast food and technology.”

The research found that South African children were not meeting the recommended guidelines of two hours of screen time or less daily, and that social media and cellphone use was high.

Organised sport‚ physical fitness and motor proficiency have not improved since the last report’s release.

While the Department of Basic Education has invested in physical activity programmes‚ compliance with these remains poor‚ researchers found.

When it comes to nutrition‚ young South Africans are also missing the mark, with the number of overweight and obese children and adolescents in the country recorded as high. In this category, they scored a D grade. Obesity in the region is estimated at between 15% and 30% across boys‚ girls and adolescents – levels similar to those seen in American children.

Under-nutrition was slowly declining in the country’s children and was almost on par with the prevalence of obesity‚ Meiring said.

“The best time to intervene for physical activity is during the childhood years‚ to implement a lifelong yearning for involvement in physical activity.”