Are children more unfit now than 20 years ago?

In an interesting article published by BBC News, researchers from the University of Essex carried out strength and fitness tests on 1,200 children in 1998, 2008 and 2014 to see how their fitness compared over the years.

After explaining how there wasn’t a noticeable difference in BMI between 1998 to 2014 - as although the average height has increased, so has the average weight - the article went on to say,
“Authors had expected the children to be stronger and more powerful because they had grown bigger, but this did not prove to be the case.
According to Dr Gavin Sandercock who led the study, there was a 20% decrease in muscle strength and a 30% decrease in muscle endurance over the 16-year period.”

Dr Sandercock then continued to explain this by saying,
"Inactive lifestyles are a health risk but physical fitness is the single best measure of health in childhood, adolescence and on into adulthood […] Poor fitness and inactivity lead to multiple health problems in their adult life."

At Beth Tweddle Gymnastics, we’re here to help tackle this issue by encouraging healthy, active lifestyles. Gymnastics is a fantastic sport for all ages which promotes muscle strength, cardio health and endurance to give our swimmers the best start for lifelong fitness.

Click here to read the full article.