CHICAGO - Young teens aren’t exactly embracing the government’s Let’s Move mantra, the latest fitness data suggest.
Only 1 in 4 Americans age 12 to 15 meets the recommendation for an hour or more of moderate to vigorous activity every day.
The number is based on about 800 children who reported their activity levels and had physical exams as part of the 2012 National Youth Fitness Survey.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released partial results Jan.
8 from the fitness survey, which involved kids ages 3 to 15. Other results from the same survey are pending and include fitness data based on more objective measures including treadmill tests.
Lead author Tala Fakhouri, of the CDC, said the nationally representative results provide useful information for initiatives that aim to increase youth fitness, including the Let’s Move campaign begun by first lady Michelle Obama in 2010.
Children in the survey reported on which physical activities they did most frequently outside of school gym class - basketball for boys and running for girls.
While few met guidelines established in 2008 for activity that raises the heart rate and makes you breathe harder, most said they had done at least an hour of exercise at that level during the previous week. Overall, about 25 percent said they got an hour of that kind of exercise every day.
Obese children were less active than normal-weight girls and boys. Overweight girls were slightly less active than normal-weight girls, but levels were similar among overweight and normal-weight boys.
“It’s definitely very concerning to see that our kids are engaging in such a limited amount of physical activity each day when we are still battling” an obesity epidemic, said Dr. Stephen Pont, an Austin, Texas, pediatrician and chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ section on obesity.
Data suggest obesity may have decreased slightly among some children but the overall rate for ages 2 to 19 is 17 percent, or about 12.5 million obese kids.
Pont said schools can do more to help by not cutting recess and giving kids more time for physical activity. He said research suggests kids who get physical education at school do better academically.
Recent national data on children’s fitness levels is limited. A 2009-10 CDC survey involving ages 6 to 11 found about 70 percent met the physical activity guidelines.
The results came from parents, who may be inclined to over-report how active their kids are.
ActiveStyle, Pages 23 on 01/20/2014