Fitness levels amongst children in the UK are dropping at double the rate of the rest of the world, according to research.
The University of Essex found that children’s fitness levels in the UK have fallen at a rate of 8% per decade, regardless of obesity, while around the globe the figure has fallen at 4%.
As a result of the “large and worrying” decline they said there could be a need to monitor schoolchildren’s fitness levels. They added that cardiorespiratory fitness may also be more important to monitor as a marker for long-term health as opposed to actual weight.
The study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood journal, recruited more than 600 children, who were asked to run between two points 20 metres apart while a noise sounded at intervals. They ran until they could no longer keep pace and the number of shuttle runs each child could manage was then recorded.
A total of 300 children were tested in 1998 and another 300 in 2008. Over the period, boys’ body mass index (BMI) increased while the girls’ remained static. All the children were aged 10 during the study and attended schools in Chelmsford.
Chelmsford has low levels of deprivation and ranks among the top 20% most affluent areas of the UK.
The test found cardiorespiratory fitness declined significantly in boys (7%) and girls (9%) over the decade. The authors, from the University of Essex, said their findings matched previous research.
“Two English studies now show that English children’s cardiorespiratory fitness is falling at twice the predicted global average rate,” they wrote.
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