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A new study suggests that only one in 30 children practice the amount of recommended daily physical activity.
According to the Chief Medical Officer's instructions, people aged 5 to 18 years old should do at least 60 minutes of "moderate to vigorous physical activity" every day.
Previous research often used less than seven days of activity data for children and created an average based on it.
However, a study conducted by the universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the fifth year revealed that although almost one-third (30.6%) averaged 60 minutes per day, only 3.2% did so every day.
Activity levels in girls were even lower, only 1.2% reaching the daily goal of 60 minutes, compared with 5.5% of boys.
"Previous studies based on average activity have probably overestimated the percentage of children responding to the recommendations," said Dr. Lisa Price, of Exeter University.
"Our results suggest that just under a third of children reach an average of 60 minutes a day, but only 3.2% reach the goal of 60 minutes each day.
"We were surprised to see such a difference.
"We do not know if an average of 60 minutes a day will be different in terms of health outcomes compared to 60 minutes a day." Further research is needed to examine this issue.
"We know that most children do not do enough physical activity and that this has consequences not only during childhood, but also in adulthood."
Data was collected from 807 fifth-grade children in 32 schools in Devon, and seven full days of data were collected on each child with the help of an activity monitor.
Previous studies collecting activity data were limited by the ability to obtain seven full days of data. This study therefore has some of the most reliable data on the activity of 9 and 10 year old children.
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Material provided by University of Exeter. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.
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