Teenagers Have the Same Activity Levels as 60 Year Olds

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in America recommend that adults engage in at least 2.5 hours of physical activity per week. The CDC also reports that only 1 in 5 adults get this much physical activity. People who do not get the exercise they need are more likely to die prematurely or develop a range of serious illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression and some forms of cancer.

Not only do adults not get enough exercise, but teenagers are even worse!

Fewer than 3 in 10 high school students get a minimum of 60 minutes of daily physical activity, which is the level of exercise recommended by both the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Teenagers are at the highest risk of being physically inactive, and in their late teens, this group was likely to get as little exercise as 60 year olds.

Prof. Vadim Zipunnikov commented…"Activity levels at the end of adolescence are alarmingly low, and by age 19, they were comparable to 60-year-olds. For school-age children, the primary window for activity was the afternoon between 2 and 6 p.m. So the big question is how do we modify daily schedules, in schools for example, to be more conducive to increasing physical activity?"

And that’s where we come in. Getting the UK’s children active whilst learning in the classroom using standing desks makes total sense. It both improves both activity levels and brain function. Vitally, it creates a positive habit that is taken into adult life.