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25% kids above eight are obese in urban India

Sir john

By Sir john
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Sir john Newbie

Sir john

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Ever wondered why many Indian children are not physically fit and have poor endurance levels? One more survey has reconfirmed what is already well-known: Indian children put in much less physical activity than their counterparts in other countries. And since they are physically in poor shape, they become incapable of doing much physical activity. It is a vicious circle. Twenty-five per cent of Indian children above the age of eight are obese and overweight, says a new national survey on physical fitness. Almost an equal number of children between five and 14 years of age have a high body mass index, reflecting poor endurance level, muscle strength and flexibility. The sample survey was carried out in 21 schools across the National Capital Area (NCR), Mohali, Amritsar and Panipat as also in Lucknow, Chennai, Indore, Bangalore, Mumbai and several other cities. The survey carried out by Edusports, an organisation promoting sports in the country, found that obesity levels were by and large similar across the states. Fitness levels of children, says Saumil Majumdar, director of Edusports, are deemed to be a key indicator of children’s performance and potential everywhere. But few Indian schools seem to pay much attention to this aspect of children’s development. The findings would help identify the gaps in physical education for children, he added. Majumdar does not quite share a secret when he complains that the educational system in India favoured academics over physical fitness and sports, compromising the all-round development of children. Recalling his experience, Majumdar said that in one of the schools, which had a strength of 2,500 students, only 75 students asserted that they were interested in sports. Only two hours in the entire week were devoted to physical activities. And the pattern, he claimed, is fairly representative. Sports, he advocated, needed to be made compulsory for children in schools. The children who figured in the survey were in the 5-14 years age group and factors that were studied included body mass index, aerobic (walking, running) and anaerobic (sprinting) capacities, muscle strength, endurance and flexibility.

DomainK Newbie

DomainK

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Not just the food (which is usually too rich), exercising is not a popular part of Indian culture. Parents dont teach their children the importance of exercising. On the contrary, a child who plays much is discouraged and asked to stop wasting time and concentrate on studies. A child who acts like a typical gentleman is considered a good child and those playing and running around are considered spoiled.

Mamu Newbie

Mamu

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Not just the food (which is usually too rich)' date=' exercising is not a popular part of Indian culture. Parents dont teach their children the importance of exercising. On the contrary, a child who plays much is discouraged and asked to stop wasting time and concentrate on studies. A child who acts like a typical gentleman is considered a good child and those playing and running around are considered spoiled.[/quote'] Isnt it strange -- YOGA is catching ilke wild fire here in the US. But far less people (percentage wise) practice YOGA there than here!
Clarke Mentor

Clarke

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Not just the food (which is usually too rich)' date=' exercising is not a popular part of Indian culture. Parents dont teach their children the importance of exercising. On the contrary, a child who plays much is discouraged and asked to stop wasting time and concentrate on studies. A child who acts like a typical gentleman is considered a good child and those playing and running around are considered spoiled.[/quote'] True .. other than that, children are exposed to the computers and gaming consoles like never before. In most urban environments, open spaces are a luxury and a good percentage of these obese kids might not have experienced the joys of playing cricket/soccer for hrs daily. We can't expect kids to exercise or explore yoga, they need to play sports and enjoy them.
Desi Cartman Newbie

Desi Cartman

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i used ti play in the park or cricket in the drive way even till a few years ago, used to play alot even during my college days .. These days when i ask my cousins if they play, they say we r in class 8 or 9 and its not cool to play in the park. They are more interested in girls,facebook, psp etc than sports

IKnowU Newbie

IKnowU

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The problem is a lot of these kids live in concrete jungles.......no parks, recreation activities are no where to be seen. Simple as that.

Ram Newbie

Ram

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Part of the problem is also the extremely unbalanced, calorie--rich diets that kids consume. Many kids eat rice/rotis three times a day.There's very little awareness of balanced, protein/nutrient rich diet.

IKnowU Newbie

IKnowU

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^^ Yep the typical southies wont leave the house until they had a dosa/idli/sambar for breakfast. Whereas in the 'western world', they just eat of bowl of cereals or a fruit and run of to work then eat little bits and pieces junk and snacks throughout the day. Eating heavy from breakfast to dinner is not the best way to approach it. Light breakfast then a heavy lunch with snacks in the afternoon with a medium dinner would much more ideal.

Roshanrocks Newbie

Roshanrocks

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with so much poverty i wonder if that is true... feck so many kids dont get food to eat... They do these surveys in select schools and come out with these survey reports... crap
they said "urban" India
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