According to the latest measurement carried out as part of the Active MultiSport Schools movement education programme, 20% of primary school students are overweight and one in 14 children in Poland is struggling with obesity. Polish children are among the fastest weight gainers in Europe. The reason behind that is a poor diet and insufficient level of physical activity.

Over the past 40 years, the number of children and teenagers struggling with excessive body weight has increased more than tenfold. According to the “The Lancet” medical journal, in 2016 as many as 124 million children in the world were obese and another 213 million were struggling with obesity. As experts emphasise, the number of extra kilograms is still growing, also among Polish children.

– The latest measurements carried out among primary school students as part of the Active MultiSport Schools movement education programme show that one in five children in Poland has a problem with being overweight. Obesity affects one in 14 Polish pupils. For comparison, in the 1970s less than 10% of Polish pupils struggled with excessive body weight – says Adam Radzki, Management Board Member at Benefit Systems, the company that founded the Active MultiSport Schools programme.

The survey also shows that problems with maintaining a healthy body weight affect boys 5% more often than girls. The group that struggles with excessive body weight most often are children between 10 and 12 years old.

Heavy weight problem

Additional kilograms among children often become the reason for peer-to-peer pricks and weaker mental condition of the youngest. Overweight also has a great impact on the health of the young generation.

– Looking at the growing obesity and overweight index, scientists associated with the World Obesity Federation predict that in 2025 around 12 million children around the world will have abnormal glucose tolerance, 4 million will have type 2 diabetes, 27 million will have hypertension, and 38 million will have fatty liver or fat accumulated in this organ. If these trends are maintained, there is a good chance that contemporary children will not only worsen the quality of their lives, but, despite the improvement in the quality of healthcare, will live shorter than their parents – says Dr Janusz Dobosz from the National Physical Activity Research Centre at the University of Physical Education in Warsaw, an expert of the Active MultiSport Schools education programme.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) studies show that more than 2.5 million people worldwide die from diseases related to overweight and obesity every year.

Poor diet and lack of physical activity

One of the most important factors in developing obesity is poor diet – rich in animal fats, simple sugars or salt. We eat too little fruit and vegetables. According to the data from the KIK/34 programme implemented by the National Food and Nutrition Institute, only about 30% of primary school students eat one serving of fruit a day. The second leading cause of problems with excessive body weight is the insufficient level of physical activity. Currently, only one in four children in Poland meets the recommendations of the World Health Organisation and exercises for 60 minutes a day.

The growing problem of pre-schoolers

Obesity and overweight are problems that affect younger and younger children. There are already twice as many obese pre-schoolers than 10 years ago. WHO cautions that if current trends persist, by 2025 there will be about 70 million children under the age of 5 with excessive body weight. For this reason, in April this year, the World Health Organisation published the latest recommendations on physical activity for preschool children. They show that children between 1 and 4 years old should be physically active at least 3 hours a day and should not remain immobile for more than an hour.

Moving to maintain proper weight

– Contemporary children spend around 60% of their time during the day motionless. This is a very dangerous situation for the health of the youngest. Physical activity stimulates their proper development, adapts to the conditions in which they live and allows them to build capital of physical fitness and health for the future. Children who do not exercise become sick. Today, instead of physical activity, the young generation is more likely to choose multimedia because it is a much easier form of entertainment that requires less effort. This does not mean that children do not like moving – emphasises Dr Janusz Dobosz.

The survey conducted as part of the Active MultiSport Schools programme shows that children still enjoy physical activity, if it is offered in an attractive form. Good fun is a motivation to exercise for 79% of children. As many as 64% of children like team games, e.g. volleyball or dodgeball, i.e. very traditional activities that their parents also engaged in when they were young. As Dr Janusz Dobosz points out, physical activity of children largely depends on parents and teachers, from which they take an example.

– To facilitate engaging in joint physical activity with children and to help them build proper eating habits, as part of the Active MultiSport Schools programme, we have prepared a free guide to good practice for parents. It contains tips on children's physical needs and examples of sport activities for two age groups – pre-schoolers and primary school students. In these educational materials parents will also find simple nutritional recommendations, which in combination with a properly selected dose of physical activity will help ensure healthy development of children and proper weight of their body – adds Adam Radzki.

The guide to good practices is available at https://www.aktywneszkoly.pl/htdocs/pdf/ASM_Poradnik_dobrych_praktyk_dla_rodzicow_2019.pdf

More information about children's physical activity and the Active MultiSport Schools educational programme can be found at www.aktywneszkoly.pl