How A Lack of Fitness Levels is Affecting your Child’s Future

The worrying levels of obese and overweight children that we are now witnessing have some more far-reaching implications that go beyond the obvious health concerns about the state of our younger generation, as the U.S military have publicly stated that over 70% of kids would not be deemed fit enough to serve their country.

Young people are facing a number of major challenges, such as in extreme cases, needing help with heroin addiction. They are also potentially hindering their future prospects in life, simply due to a general lack of basic fitness levels.

Willing but not able

If you look at comments made by the U.S Army recruitment commander in recent times, it has been noted by those that matter at the Pentagon, that even if someone is willing to serve their country and sign up for military service, there is a 70% chance that they will not be deemed fit enough to gain acceptance.

To put some context into the headline rate of seven in ten youths between 17 and 24 not being eligible for military service, this does also include not just reasons of obesity, but also a lack of a high school diploma, or drugs issues.

However you look at this startling revelation, it doesn’t reflect well on the lifestyle and health of the nation’s young people.

The fact that the U.S Army has noticeably lowered their tolerance levels of the levels of body fat, especially during the Iraq war for example, in order to ensure that recruitment targets were set, doesn’t really address the major issue surrounding the general lack of fitness amongst the younger generation.

Fatter not fitter

The hard truth is that today’s kids are less likely to be able to run as fast or as far as their parents could when they were the same age.

This decline was noted by the American Heart Association, who concluded that it now takes children up to 90 seconds longer to run a mile, than their counterparts would have taken to complete the same distance, some 30 years previously.

It is their estimation that heart-related fitness has fallen by about 5% each decade since 1975, when you look at the performance rates of children aged between 9 and 17, over that period of time.

These figures would appear to confirm what should be amongst our worst fears relating to our children of today, which is that there is a steady and decline in fitness levels and that in global terms, children around the world are generally less active and less fitter than any previous generation that they have been measured against.

The World Health Organization has also voiced its concerns and suggest that as many as 80% of young people globally, are essentially getting fatter not fitter, as a result of a lack of exercise and poor diet choices.

Reasons behind the fall

It is an alarming fact that some schools don’t even offer a physical education program for the kids attending, which is mainly down to economic reasons, but it is still a major concern that some form of physical education is not going to be instilled in young people during their formative years at school.

The Let’s Move program promoted by Michelle Obama has indicated that we are currently witnessing the most sedentary generation of children in our entire history. When you look at some of the reasons behind this potentially calamitous trend, it could be that in some countries, there is such an obsession with academic achievement, such as you see in China for example, that physical fitness seems to take a backseat in the list of priorities.

You can also point the finger of blame to a certain extent, at the proliferation of television and video games in many household, meaning that kids are just as likely to spend time on a couch inside, rather than engaging in some outdoor play, which was more the case for a typical child in previous generations.

Global problem

The issue of childhood obesity is a global problem, although you could argue that there has at least been a levelling off in the rate of decline in fitness levels amongst some countries, who have taken steps to try and encourage kids to get some regular exercise.

Fitness levels are also poor amongst many adults too, but worse in young people, especially in some countries like the United States and Eastern Europe. This should be a warning shot that something needs to be done to encourage kids to get more exercise, not just because they might want to do military service, but also for their future health in particular.

Abby Howe is sharing her knowledge as a fitness instructor, and as a Mother, to help parents get their kids outside and active. Look out for her articles on parenting sites.