Scottish children among laziest in world

Well not actually the whole world because the study only included 15 countries such as Mozambique and New Zealand.

But the scottish kids didn’t do well in comparison to children from those two countries scoring only an F grade for physical activity and sedentary behaviour which placed them bottom of the table in that category.

The research was led by the University of Strathclyde and produced a Global Matrix which included the USA, England, Nigeria, Mexico,and Australia as well as the countries mentioned above.

The matrix grades each country on 9 indicators relating to the activity levels of children and teenagers up to age 18. The indicators include overall physical activity, organised sport participation, active play, active transportation, and sedentary behaviour.

Scotland score best with a B in “community & built environment” i.e. parks and play areas, and “government strategies and Investments”.

New Zealand and Mozambique came top with B grades for overall physical activity. In Mozambique this was due to children being actively involved in household chores and New Zealand scored the highest in organised sport and playing outdoors. Australia and New Zealand scored highest in “organised sport participation”.

The researchers found a correlation between better infrastructure and lower physical activity and higher sedentary behaviour and blamed the temptations of technology for the decline in outdoor play.

In addition only 1 in 7 Scottish children are getting their 5 a day and they eat too much fat and sugar in their diets.

But it’s not only the Scots. In the UK we are basically a nation of couch potatoes.