Students in Taiwan are not meeting the WHO’s suggested daily amount of exercise, a multi-nation study by National Chung Hsing University and National Taiwan University of Sports showed.
The study, conducted over the past year and comparing data from the 49 members of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, was published on Tuesday.
National Taiwan University of Sports vice president Chang Chen-kang (張振崗), one of the authors of the study, told a news conference in Taipei that in an aggregate of the study’s 10 indices, Taiwan scored in the upper-middle range.
However, Taiwan, along with China and South Korea, were given an “F” in the category for children and youth activity, Chang said.
Eighty percent of children and young people did not meet WHO requirements, the study showed.
The WHO suggests that children and young people have at least an hour per day of medium to high-intensity exercise, Chang said, adding that this does not have to be completed in one go.
Parents should encourage their children to exercise after school so that they get at least 60 minutes a day, he said.
Taiwan ranked above average in exercise facilities and physical education planning, showing that the government and schools recognize the importance of exercise, Chang said.
However, they are unable to implement policies to help promote good exercise, he said.
The use of electronic devices at school and outside it consumes too much of their time, which affects the amount of exercise, the mental state and social skills of children and young people, he said.
National Taiwan University of Sports president Lin Hua-wei (林華韋) said that aside from government policy, conceptual changes — especially in education and parental support — would go a long way to fostering more physical activity among children and young people.
Universities should uphold their social responsibility and hopefully the report would help focus attention on exercise, National Chung Hsing University president Hsueh Fu-sheng (薛富盛) said.
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