“Getting teenagers moving is not easy. But encouraging them is important
.
The French Public Health Agency (SPF) is launching a campaign to make parents aware that their children do not practice enough physical activity.
This campaign is based on the results of several studies.
The first, Esteban, carried out in 2015, showed that among children aged 6-17, only 50.7% of boys and 33.3% of girls reached the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation: engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity per day.
After the age of 10, a marked decline in physical activity is observed, more marked in girls: in the 11-14 age group, 33.7% of adolescents and 20.2% of adolescent girls reach this recommendation.
Read alsoChoosing a sport for your child
In addition, the proportion of young people spending three hours or more in front of a screen each day reaches 45% among 6-10 year olds, 70% among 11-14 year olds, 71% among girls and 87% among 15-year-old boys. 17 years.
"This finding has certainly been reinforced by the Covid
," said Anne-Juliette Serry, head of the food and physical activity unit at SPF, to AFP.
Exercise as a family
Sports practice among young people improves their cardiorespiratory and muscular capacity, their metabolic health and the health of their bones, helps them maintain a healthy weight, and also has an impact on mental health and stress management, recalls- she.
A qualitative study conducted by Public Health France with Kantar public, also showed that parents frequently feel that their child's level of activity is sufficient, a perception that is based on non-objective criteria (
"it is not overweight"
,
"he feels good"
,
"he plays sports at school"
).
The campaign, rolled out for a month on various media (TV, cinema, radio, social networks, etc.), aims to “boost”
parents by encouraging them to offer their children more physical activity
,” explains Anne-Juliette. Serry.
They can for example
“offer them to play sports with family, with friends, or serve as an example by being active themselves”
, she notes.
In October, a second part of the campaign will target teenagers directly and invite them to take up one daily physical activity challenge.
