Getting the Ya-Ya’s Out!

The British are getting serious about the failure of government to encourage a more active life style among children. Calling the present practice “child neglect, ” physicians writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine accuse politicians of “neglecting state policy on child physical activity for decades.”

Regular exercise in childhood can help boost academic performance, curb antisocial behavior, improve general health and wellbeing, the experts from University College London Hospitals, Liverpool John Moores University and the Sydney School of Public Health said. They noted that only 33% of boys and 21% of girls aged 4 to 15 meet the minimum levels of physical activity for basic health benefits.

The authors wrote, “Given the overwhelming evidence supporting physical activity for the physical health, mental health and productivity of children, the lack of policy, lack of cross party debate and interest, lack of leadership and strategic action on physical activity within schools are complicit and tantamount to state child neglect.”

In their call for reform, the authors noted that, in British schools, the amount of time children spend in physical education and activity is neither monitored nor known by any educational or regulatory authorities. In addition there is no statutory minimum requirement for schools to devote a specific amount of time to physical education.