Kids Less Fit than Parents 30 Years Ago

Despite medical and technological advances, a new study shows that kids today may not be as fit as their parents. A recent analysis that was based on the performance of millions of children from around the globe shows that children could not run as fast as their parents from 30 years ago.

"It makes sense. We have kids that are less active than before," Dr. Stephen Daniels, a University of Colorado pediatrician and spokesman for the heart association said, via USA Today.

The research, which was featured by the American Heart Association, showed that it took one and a half more minutes for children today to run a mile than it did for their parents when they were their children's age. A five percent decline per decade was also recorded in health related fitness since 1975 among children.

The study authors advised that children 6 years and up should participate in 60 minutes of moderately vigorous activity every day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that this include either moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, or vigorous-intensity activity, such as running. They also advise that vigorous intensity aerobic activity is included at least three days a week as well as muscle training in order to support bone strengthening.

"Kids aren't getting enough opportunities to build up that activity over the course of the day," Daniels said. "Many schools, for economic reasons, don't have any physical education at all. Some rely on recess to provide exercise."

Lead study author Grant Tomkinson, an exercise physiologist at the University of South Australia, concluded that on average, children are 15 percent less fit than their parents were, stressing that these changes are very similar for children throughout various ages, but also different based on geographic region.

Sam Kass, executive director of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Initiative, called the results of the one-mile cross-generational footrace "shocking," adding that it's going to take more than fitness to make a change.

"We know we need to break this cycle of passing physical inactivity down from one generation to the next," Kass said, via WebMd. "There's no one solution. It's got to happen in a comprehensive way. We have to integrate physical activity in our lives. It's got to be a part of our daily lives."