Elite school athletes at the 2013 SAA Cross Country Championship. While they may be getting enough exercise because of their training, their peers in school may not be. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)
If you have had adults brag that they were fitter than you were when they were your age, a global fitness study seems to confirm it.
Researchers from the University of South Australia’s School of Health Sciences looked at 50 studies on running fitness between 1964 and 2010 that involved more than 25 million youths, aged 9 to 17, in 28 countries. Singapore is one of the 28 countries studied.
The youths were tested over a distance of half a mile (0.8km) to two miles (3.2km) and about 80 percent of the children in the studies were from Asia.
The researchers found that youths are about 90 seconds slower than their peers from 30 years ago, and have a cardiovascular fitness level that is approximately 15 percent less than their parents were as youths.
“In fact, about 30 percent to 60 percent of the declines in endurance running performance can be explained by increases in fat mass,” said Grant Tomkinson, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and an exercise physiologist at the university.
Dr Tomkinson added that youths need to exercise their big muscles at least 60 minutes every day. He recommended running, swimming or cycling.
“If a young person is generally unfit now, then they are more likely to develop conditions like heart disease later in life,” said Tomkinson.
The findings of this study were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions.
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