WHERE HAVE THE SPORTY KIDS GONE?
Australia is known for its strong sporting ethic. We all love watching the Olympics as the swimmers clean up in the pool, cheering on the Blues (as they lose to the Reds in Queensland) and getting behind our favourite local clubs as they battle it out for the various premierships.
As kids, we all played some level of sport, be it swimming on a Tuesday morning before sunrise, Little Athletics on a Friday afternoon or standing out on a soccer pitch in the freezing cold on Saturday mornings. It’s where we learn to be good winners, better losers and show a sense of comradery with our peers.
Unfortunately, kids today are not getting to experience this like we did.
Recent Trends
Since the lockdowns in 2020/2021, there has been a downturn in children between 3 – 14 undertaking individual and team sports across the country.
It is now estimated that only 23% of these kids are meeting the requirements of 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
Screen time has gone up as sporting participation has gown down, with 123 minutes a day being spent on phones or the TV.
It is becoming more and more apparent that lockdown habits are proving hard to break and kids are lacking to motivation to start or resume playing sport as they were pre-COVID.
Recommendations
The Australian Government has recommended children between 5 – 17 should be getting at least 60 minutes of moderate exercises every day to regulate their physical and mental health. School sport covers a portion of this but after school physical activities are a great way to account for the rest!
Sport has great mental health benefits too along with improving:
cardio fitness
muscle strength
weight
sleep
gross motor skills
bone health
It has been shown to have marked improvements in self-esteem in teenagers, improves cognitive performance and creativity and reduces the prevalence of anxiety and depression.
In Australia, swimming is our go-to sport, with most children along the east coast of Australia being a part of a swim squad.
Soccer is our most popular team sport with AFL, NRL, hockey and netball rounding out the top 5.
These sports aren’t the only option though, from golf to rowing, mountain bike riding to ten pin bowling, there is something out there for everyone!