Screen Time and Inactivity Unacceptable In Adolescents

According to research conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of adolescents are not getting adequate amounts of physical activity.  The WHO recommends adolescents participate in an hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily.  However, data obtained by the WHO from 1.6 million students between 2001 and 2016 found only 1 out of 5 children met the WHO’s recommendation for daily physical activity.  The WHO attributes this lack of physical activity to increase in home screen time which is replacing the time for physical activity.  While the data is extremely concerning and parents and educational leaders need to step up to create and implement solutions, the good news is that over the 15 years reviewed, the physical activity for boys has actually improved.  Unfortunately, over that same period of time, there has been no improvement for the physical activity in girls.