Children too inactive, study shows
Only about 7% cent of pre-school children in Belgium move as much as they should, according to research carried out by the University of Ghent and Brussels University College (HUB). A child under six should be physically active for at least two hours a day, but instead they only play outside for an average of 16 minutes. Even during gym lessons at pre-school, children spend 58% of their time standing still.
A lack of space and excessively large classes are partly to blame, according to Dirk Smits of HUB, who led the research. “However, teachers could easily adapt their lessons to let children be more active.”
The study looked at 573 children aged four to six in 35 schools. Their movements were measured using a motion meter, and they were observed by researchers using the SOFIT protocol, which allows physical movement to be evaluated objectively.
The results showed that children spent more than half the duration of the lesson lying down, sitting or standing still. That confirms research done by the same team two years ago, when they found that pre-school children spent 85% of their waking hours inactive. Part of the problem is watching TV, but also in the classroom children were too often made to sit still. And even during play time, they were inactive for 61% of the time.
“It wouldn’t take much more than a greater awareness and a few simple interventions to make lessons more active,” Smits said. Suggestions include regular brief movement breaks and, perhaps less easily arranged, allowing more average space per child, something the research showed leads directly to increased activity.
• Meanwhile, research by the EU Commission revealed that half of all Belgians are indifferent to sport, 28% never take part in any sporting activity and 19% get no physical exercise whatever. The poll was carried out among 26,000 people in 27 member states, among them 1,001 Belgians. At the same time, however, 43% devote at least six hours a month to organising sporting events. The most active Europeans come from the north: 72% of Swedes and Finns indulge in regular physical exercise.
