TN school children show poor fitness levels, finds survey

CHENNAI: School going children are showing poor levels of fitness and their physical activity levels have dropped immensely, a country-wide survey has revealed.

The survey also included participants from Tamil Nadu and covered children in the age groups of 6 to 16 years from 120 schools across 20 cities, including Chennai.

The children were assessed on various parameters in both private and public schools on the parameters taken into account were Body Mass Index (BMI), aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, core strength, flexibility, upper body strength and lower body strength by Sportz Village.

It runs EduSports in-school Physical Education - Sports programme to improve sports education in India and has been assessing children's health on a national-level.

The latest survey revealed that 2 in 5 children do not have a healthy BMI, and 2 in 3 children do not have the adequate upper body strength, while 3 in 5 children do not have the adequate lower body strength.

The survey also stated that 2 in 5 children do not have the desired abdominal strength and 1 in 4 children do not possess the desired flexibility.

It highlighted that the pandemic did disrupt many aspects of the daily life of children, including physical activity levels and has had a negative impact on the health and well-being of many individuals globally.

The survey highlighted that since schools were closed for extended periods of time during the pandemic, it led to reduced opportunities for physical activity and outdoor play.

Additionally, restrictions on movement and social distancing guidelines may have limited the ability of children to participate in organised sports or physical activities outside of their homes.

The survey compares the fitness levels of children in public and government schools to the children in private schools. It was found that children from private schools outperformed government school children in most categories with significantly better performances in upper body strength, flexibility and core strength.

The survey also compared the performance of 3,000 children before and after Covid-19 to study the impact of school closures on children's health. It was found that performance in all parameters except flexibility had gone down.

Speaking on the findings, Saumil Majmudar, CEO - Managing Director of Sportz Village, said: "Last year, schools resumed in-person classes. At that point in time, the long-term effect of the pandemic on the physical fitness of Indian children was still unclear. The findings prove that the school closures, due to the pandemic, had an adverse effect."

He added that the lack of health and fitness among such a large number of children yet again proves that physical activities in schools are of great importance and are needed for the overall development of children.

"Schools need to view sports as an integral part of education and should provide opportunities to engage in structured physical activities," he added.