LONDON - New research suggests even 3-year-olds aren't getting enough exercise, raising concerns over their weight, future disease risk, psychological well-being, behavior and learning ability.
In the first study to rigorously track the movements of preschoolers, scientists found that the average 3-year-old is physically active for just 20 minutes a day, well short of the recommended hour-a-day for that age.
In The Lancet study published last month, scientists from the University of Glasgow in Scotland recruited 78 children. Each 3-year-old wore an "accelerometer," a matchbox-sized monitor clipped to the waistband, for a week.
The device, worn from the time the children woke up until they went to bed, gave minute-by-minute readings of the children's pattern of physical activity and the number of calories burned.
The toddlers were burning about 1,300 calories a day - less than the 1,500 calories recommended.
While the problem is one of an imbalance of calories eaten and burned up, experts believe the main reason is that children are not getting enough exercise.
"There are really only two possibilities: reduced activity or increased intake. None of the dietary assessment data indicate that children are eating more. Adolescents may be eating more, but young children are eating less," said the study's leader, John Reilly, a physiologist at the University of Glasgow.
"A 3-year-old 25 years ago was eating 25 percent more than a 3-year-old today," he said. "But physical activity levels have dropped quite dramatically over the last 15 or 20 years."
In the study, the children were spending 9 to 10 hours of their waking day hardly moving. "They may well have been doing a bit of fidgeting, they may have been speaking to their parents or among themselves, but they were just not moving enough to put up the number of calories burned beyond what it would be if they were just resting or sleeping," Reilly said.
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Oh PUH-fvcking-leeeeeze. 20 minutes a day????? 9 to 10 hours of their waking day hardly moving ???? Are you kidding me???
It takes most parents 20 minutes just to chase down a 3 year old when you tell them it's time to get their night time bath. 20 minutes a day LMAO. Everytime I read this article, it makes me laugh more and more.
In the first study to rigorously track the movements of preschoolers, scientists found that the average 3-year-old is physically active for just 20 minutes a day, well short of the recommended hour-a-day for that age.
In The Lancet study published last month, scientists from the University of Glasgow in Scotland recruited 78 children. Each 3-year-old wore an "accelerometer," a matchbox-sized monitor clipped to the waistband, for a week.
The device, worn from the time the children woke up until they went to bed, gave minute-by-minute readings of the children's pattern of physical activity and the number of calories burned.
The toddlers were burning about 1,300 calories a day - less than the 1,500 calories recommended.
While the problem is one of an imbalance of calories eaten and burned up, experts believe the main reason is that children are not getting enough exercise.
"There are really only two possibilities: reduced activity or increased intake. None of the dietary assessment data indicate that children are eating more. Adolescents may be eating more, but young children are eating less," said the study's leader, John Reilly, a physiologist at the University of Glasgow.
"A 3-year-old 25 years ago was eating 25 percent more than a 3-year-old today," he said. "But physical activity levels have dropped quite dramatically over the last 15 or 20 years."
In the study, the children were spending 9 to 10 hours of their waking day hardly moving. "They may well have been doing a bit of fidgeting, they may have been speaking to their parents or among themselves, but they were just not moving enough to put up the number of calories burned beyond what it would be if they were just resting or sleeping," Reilly said.
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Oh PUH-fvcking-leeeeeze. 20 minutes a day????? 9 to 10 hours of their waking day hardly moving ???? Are you kidding me???
It takes most parents 20 minutes just to chase down a 3 year old when you tell them it's time to get their night time bath. 20 minutes a day LMAO. Everytime I read this article, it makes me laugh more and more.
