Half of Kenyan children and youths are not active enough for healthy growth and development, scientists have found.
A national physical activity report card that will be released today says educated parents are not encouraging their children to engage in physical activities.
The report shows children of mothers chasing higher education are not active enough to effectively ward off health complications such as obesity.
“Children of mothers with a diploma, higher diploma or degree, compared with primary school or less, are 75 per cent less likely to meet recommended physical activity guidelines,” it says.
For this the parents scored a paltry D in a descending scale from A to D. “Parents, friends and the communities are important in encouraging and even enabling the youths to stay active,” says Prof Vincent Onywera of Kenyatta University.
HEALTH BENEFITS
The Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth 2016 will be released this morning at Kenyatta University.
The third such score card since 2011 says almost half of children and youths aged between five and 17 do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity.
Global guidelines recommend children do at least 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for healthy development.
The Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth 2016 says that despite this, local children are doing much better compared to their counterparts in the rest of the world.
“Compared to the previous scores in 2011 and 2014, there is more awareness on the health benefits of active children but this is not translating into action as fast as would be desirable,” says Prof Onywera, the report’s lead author.
The Kenya Report Card release coincides with a 12-country study, Kenya included, which investigated how children are doing on the major health parameters necessary for keeping obesity at bay.
The study published on Friday in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity investigated whether children and adolescents aged between five and 13 are spending their 24-hour day in a healthy manner.
WHO recommends that five to 13-year-olds sleep at least 9-11 hours, be involved in physical activities for at least 60 minutes and not exceed two hours watching TV to avoid obesity.