A study shows that children today take 90 seconds longer to run a 1600m than they did 30 years ago. Their cardiovascular endurance would have dropped, in particular because of the overweight.
How fast is your child able to run the 1500m? Whatever the verdict, it could be that his time is worse than yours at the same age. Indeed, according to an Australian study that has just been presented to the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, the cardiovascular endurance of our little darlings has dropped significantly over the past thirty years. A change that would affect both girls and boys, but which worries experts around the world.
Children’s running skills analyzed over 46 years
To carry out this recent analysis of children’s athletic abilities, these researchers reviewed some fifty studies conducted on the subject between 1964 and 2010. These studies included data on cardiovascular health of approximately 25 million people. children aged 9 to 17 from 28 countries. Some of them had sought to measure how far children could run in a given time at a specific time and, conversely, others evaluated how long it took young people to cover a specific distance. The results of the various tests analyzed by these scientists had been collected on tests of 5 to 15 minutes or covered a distance of 1 to 3 kilometers.
Children’s cardiovascular endurance has fallen 5% per decade
Dr Grant Tomkinson, main author of this study, wished to alert his international colleagues during this congress. When presenting these results, he made it clear that the cardiovascular health of children is indeed in decline across the world. Indeed, the results of this study highlight the fact that children’s endurance has fallen, on average, by 5% every ten years. Young people today would therefore have cardiovascular health 15% poorer than that of their parents at the same age. In addition, they would also take 90 seconds longer to run a distance of 1600m compared to young people 30 years ago.
A decline mainly due to overweight
According to the authors of this study, this decline in cardiovascular health is similar in boys and girls and at all ages, from 9 to 17 years old. “In fact, about 30% to 60% of drops in endurance running performance can be explained by the increase in body fat in children,” said Dr. Grant Tomkinson. This is a problem in most western countries, but parts of Asia, such as South Korea, mainland China and Hong Kong are also seeing this phenomenon more and more.
During his presentation, the researcher also insisted on the importance and the urgency of encouraging the children of today to practice intense physical efforts. Otherwise the consequences in terms of public health could be disastrous, believes the author of the study. “If a young person is overweight now, then he or she will be at higher risk of developing diseases like heart disease later,” concluded Dr Tomkinson. Experts point out that to ensure good cardiovascular health, children need 60 minutes of vigorous physical activity per day. Sports which use the main muscles of the body and which require sustained and dynamic activity, such as running, swimming and cycling, are particularly recommended.
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