Few Teens Getting Sufficient Exercise
The recently released news on teens and exercise isn’t necessarily good. In fact, we’re just going to come out and say it: It’s pretty bad. According to a just-released study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, less than 10% of teenagers are getting the recommended 60-minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day. Yikes. And that’s just the beginning. High school teens who don’t exercise consistently are far more likely to take those low-cardio habits into adulthood, which opens them up to stunning number of health problems. It turns out that a lack of activity is linked to more deaths than obesity.
A Fitness Crisis for Younger Kids Too
And for younger kids? The news isn’t much better. According to an eSafe commission study, kids aged 8-13 spend an average of 19 hours of screen time each week. The consequences aren’t surprising: A British Journal of Sports Medicine study measured fitness levels of more than a million kids aged 9 to 17 years from 50 countries. And while American kids didn’t come in last, they did come in a distressing 47th place on the test that measured the ability to maintain continuous running between two lines. Worse, the number of kids with chronic obesity is set to skyrocket by the year 2025, according to a study that predicts more than 250 million kids around the world aged 5-17 will be overweight in less than a decade.
This despite the fact that the research unrelentingly shows the benefits of exercise for pretty much all kids, not just to combat obesity but also to increase focus. When kids move their bodies before the first bell at school, they are better able to stay on task and concentrate once in class. Consider this: A handful of recent studies all seems to point to how exercise — everything from yoga to creative dance — helps children with autism to better develop social skills. The kicker? It’s often not part of prescribed routines.
Screens and Sedentary Lifestyle
So why the lack of exercise? (Non) spoiler alert: Many expert ascribe the rise in obesity and lack of exercise to that dearly beloved screen. This comes as a massive non-surprise to anyone who has watched their kids (and themselves) lose precious movement time to thumb-scrolling away on our iPhones, iPads and iPods.
But get this: It’s not just that screens are replacing precious hours of tree climbing and bike riding with sofa time. It’s also that excessive screen-time has been well documented to contribute to poorer sleep quality and quantity. And that, in turn, is also contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic.
But can the very devices that lead so many people into sedentary lifestyles be the very same tools to get us off our sofas and into shape? Here are five exemplary apps that help kids and teens get back on the move.
Looking for some serious motivation to get off the sofa and moving — fast? This app, which is best for older teens, has it. Like other fitness apps that track distance, speed and course, Zombie’s, Run! sets it all to a Walking Dead-type drama. Fun, motivating and inspiring.
According to a recent study, girls 6-12 need to walk at least 12,000 steps a day to stay healthy. Boys? 15,000! FitQuest Lite is an exercise adventure that is powered by kids movements: jogging, hopping, dancing and more. The more you move, the more puzzles you unlock.
A novel approach to getting kids engaged in non-screen exercise (with the device in hand), this official NFL and American Heart Association app encourages kids to run, jump and turn while controlling the movements of their on-screen avatar. The app also recommends off-screen activities to do outside and inside the home to stay fit and active.
Created by the American Academy of Pediatrics to teach children how to maintain their bodies and prevent injuries, Iron Kids provides advanced training exercises that strengthen the core and improve posture. The featured 45-minute workout will get children moving and sweating in no time.
Check out Greatist for the greatest fitness and health tips on the web. If you already have a routine but want to explore other workouts, check out Fitness Buddy FREE for the iPad, which includes more than 1,700 workouts that users can search by targeted body parts. Quadriceps, triceps, biceps, or any other ‘ceps’ you wants to work, Fitness Buddy has you covered.