Teens Aren't Getting Nearly Enough Exercise At School
During school hours, teens get a measly 23 minutes of activity per day.
Lisa Rapaport
(Reuters Health) - Even though teens get more exercise at school than anywhere else, it still isn’t enough to meet minimum daily activity levels recommended for good physical and mental health, a U.S. study suggests.
Children and teens should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day, the World Health Organization recommends. But in the U.S., only an estimated 8 percent of youth meet this standard, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.
Advertisement
Schools, where teens spend far more waking hours than anywhere else, appear to be a big part of the problem.
On school days, adolescents got an average of just 23 minutes of physical activity at school, and this accounted for more than half of the 42-minute daily total, the study found.
Advertisement
Taking weekends into account, teens were even less active over the course of the entire week, averaging only about 39 minutes of activity daily with the majority of exercise still happening at school.
“We knew that schools were a major source of physical activity for kids, but we were surprised that kids spent only 4.8 percent of their time at school physically active,” said lead study author Jordan Carlson of Children’s Mercy Hospital and the University of Missouri in Kansas City.
Advertisement
“Kids have a natural instinct to move around, and schools can support this by providing more opportunities for students to be active, such as by incorporating physical activity in the classroom,” Carlson added by email.
Plenty of previous research has found many teenagers tend to be too sedentary and documented a declining focus on physical education in U.S. schools. The current study set out to shed new light on where adolescents get whatever limited exercise does occur.
For the current study, researchers asked more than 900 students aged 12 to 16 years living in the metropolitan areas around Washington, D.C. and Seattle to wear activity trackers that mapped when and where they exercised over the course of one week, including both school days and weekends.
Carlson and colleagues analyzed data from a subset of 550 teens who wore the trackers for at least one school day and one weekend day. Most spent a full week wearing the trackers.
On average, the teens spent 42 percent of waking time at school during the week, followed by home, which accounted for 28 percent of their time. They also spent about 13 percent of their time near home and an additional 4 percent of time close to school.
Advertisement
Teens passed the majority of their physically active time on school days either near home or close to school, the study found. This probably included travel to and from school as well as recreational activities in the neighborhood, the researchers conclude.
It’s possible that some of exercise that happened at school didn’t occur during the regular school day, but instead happened as part of after-school sports or other programs, the researchers note.
The study also lacked specifics about the locations outside of home and school where students got some of their exercise, the authors concede.
Even so, the findings suggest that interventions designed to increase exercise opportunities at school may help students become more physically active, said Penny Gordon-Larsen, a public health researcher at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
“Physical activity provides multiple health benefits, including physical, cognitive and psychosocial health benefits,” Gordon-Larsen, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “Low physical activity puts teens at current and future risk for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases.”
Advertisement
It may also be bad for their grades, noted Maureen Dobbins, a nursing researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, who wasn’t involved in the study.
“The evidence demonstrates a clear link between physical activity and student achievement,” Dobbins said by email. “So while math, science, language etc. are important, time spent engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity is an important strategy in helping teens achieve academic success.”
SOURCE: bit.ly/1jMegtO Pediatrics, online December 8, 2015.
Also on HuffPost:
Benefits Of Outdoor Exercise
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.