Although the majority of adolescents' physical activity was
in school, the low proportion of active time compared to more time in school
suggests the potential for increased activity at school. Increasing time spent
in the neighborhood seemed promising to increase overall physical activity,
since most time spent in the neighborhood was active.
While I agree with these findings, it's worth looking
further into why this inaction occurs. In fact, this study confirms what many
parents already feared: many factors inevitably lead to decreased activity in
adolescence. What do you like? Well, here are just a insufficient of the
factors:
1. Physical education diversion
In a 2013 report by Harvard University's School of Public
Health, nearly seven out of ten parents say their children don't take daily
exercise classes at their schools, though experts recommend 150 to 225 minutes
per school week. (4)
2. Over-emphasis on standardized testing.
Why did this happen? Never mind the fact that most
communities consider school employees to be successful if students score
impressively on standardized academic achievement tests. (5)
3. Costly programming and less sleep.
Teens who receive an award and/or participate in
extracurricular activities or work are simply lighting a candle, and there is
growing evidence that homework has increased for all students, regardless of
academic level. No wonder teenagers always get tired, huh? But it's also no
surprise that they often lack the motivation or energy to exercise.
4. The first years of school interfere with the natural
sleep cycle.
For most teens, school days start before 8 am, despite
evidence that teens naturally don't stay up late and should sleep by then. In
fact, PBS' "Frontline" explored this topic deeply in a show called
"Inside the Teenage Brain":
Since most high schools in the United States
start around 7:20 am and many teens go to bed between 11 am and 12 pm, sleep
researchers fear that teens are suffering from an epidemic that is largely
hidden. As students often travel to school, sporting events, or home after a
night out party, not getting enough sleep carries big risks. Many high school
students know someone, usually a successful child, who has just fallen asleep
while returning from a sporting event or dance. Less dramatically, literally
millions of teens feel overwhelmed, get bad grades, or are too tired to join
school teams because they get too little sleep. Because of their deep concern
with these issues, sleep researchers insist on starting later in school and are
trying to incorporate sleep issues into the school curriculum. (6)
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