The World Health Organization (WHO) says that 80% of the world’s teens don’t get enough exercise to live healthy lives. The pattern of inactivity could have serious effects as these teens become adults.
The report, which was published in The Lancet, was based on research done with students aged 11 to 17 in 146 different countries. The WHO has been studying teen activity levels since 2001 and reports that not much has changed since then.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that 80% of the world’s teens don’t get enough exercise to live healthy lives. The pattern of inactivity could have serious effects as these teens become adults
The WHO says that kids should get at least an hour of medium to vigorous (hard) exercise every day. This could include walking, running, biking, dancing, playing sports, or many other activities.
Doctors say 60 minutes of exercise is needed for teens to build up their bone and muscle strength. It’s also hugely important for the health of the heart and lungs. Regular activity can help people control their weight, too.
More and more research is showing that exercise doesn’t just help the body, it can help the brain, too, improving thinking, test scores, and school grades.
Trevor Shilton, who works for the Heart Foundation in Australia, says, “If this [exercise] were a medicine, we’d all be taking it.”Doctors point out that the 60 minutes each day don’t need to be done all at once. They can be broken down into smaller chunks, like 20 minutes, three times a day.
Experts believe that it’s very important for young people to build these habits now, because the positive effects of those habits can carry through into adult life. Studies show that the best way to predict how active someone will be as an adult is to look at how active they were as a teen.
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