Athletic Inactivity and why we can’t ignore it

In November of 2018, the Nationwide Childrens Hospital released a study that showed that only 5% of youth were getting the daily recommended amount of physical activity. This study, conducted over a three year period and with almost 8,000 youth, showed that youth are simply not getting the amount of exercise needed and those that are; are exercising for shorter periods and less often. This proves problematic for a variety of reasons, even beyond the overall health of our youth. Some important findings from the study are:

• 5.2 percent of children reported meeting the daily goals for physical activity

• 49.6 percent were insufficiently active

• 5 percent were reported no physical activity

• males averaged 61 more minutes of physical activity per week than females

• Males were also 39 percent more likely than females to meet the current physical activity guidelines of 420 minutes per week

• physical activity increased with age, with younger children reporting less exercise

While obviously a small sample size, this study point to a much larger trend for youth around the world- a trend of inactivity, lack of access and increasingly limited opportunity to play sports/be active. For those who read the study, one thing really jumped out to me in addition to these startling numbers. The study found that kids are simply “playing” less. When I was young, I would be outside running around with friends until my parents called me in for dinner. We would play basketball, soccer, football, tag….you name it. We did almost nothing by play. As I think about it, I feel like when I’m walking or driving through neighborhoods or past fields, they are MUCH less busy than when I was a kid. Kids seem to be staying inside playing video games, posting on social media or just playing around on the internet. This is especially troubling because none of those things are activities that get kids moving, active or learning the valuable lessons that athletic participation teach us. For me, the eye test aligns with studies like this and it is a very worrisome trend.

Take basketball for example. Every year, the focus moves more and more towards AAU and club basketball, with many kids playing nearly year round on various teams. This provides a lot of access to competition and coaching, but it also means kids are simply not “playing” basketball with friends as much. The structure of organized play has multiple benefits, but so too does unorganized, unstructured play. Again, when I was growing up, you could find me at the local court almost every day simply playing basketball with other kids. Even in-season, we would be playing in addition to practice and training. Now, I’m not advocating for kids to over-train and their are negatives to too much exercise, but that concern is mainly for the elite athletes and players who are playing at a high level vs. the recreation player who is playing because they enjoy the sport or are learning to play. As more and more kids either stay inside to play video games or play at the club level, we are losing that recreational “free” play that used to be so prevalent and enjoyable. Our youth sports system is geared towards the pay to play model which provides coaching, equipment, and access to facilities; but doesn’t allow for the freedom of free play and takes kids away from simply playing to play and because it’s fun. By paying to play a sport, there is a modicum of pressure to improve or enjoy it or be seen as a good player vs. the less pressured environment of free play. As we will discussed in other posts, we face challenges with putting qualified coaches in front of our youth and that, in combination with the focus on competition and negative parental engagement, means that the environment for youth sports isn’t always positive. That is, of course, not always the case and their are so many amazing coaches and wonderfully supportive parents; but we are learning through research and conversation that those two factors play a huge role in whether or not kids start to play sports, continue to play sports, and generally enjoy playing overall. Specialization and year round play creates an environment for kids that, when not positive, can take the joy out of playing.

We need to pay attention to studies like this, we can’t ignore them. Inactivity for our youth is something we shouldn’t let go and parents, schools, and community organizations need to work together to find solutions to this trend. Some ideas on how to do this are:

1) Provide and allow for opportunities for youth to simply “play”. Unstructured open play is an important part of letting kids sample different sports at their own pace, let them socialize with friends and peers, and allow them to find their own creativity within the various activities.

2) Adapt the pay for play model to allow for increased access for non-elite and recreational players.

3) Adapt the pay for play model to dramatically decrease the barriers that currently exist for many youth to participate; cost, time commitment, transportation, equipment, etc…

4) Work with local governments to ensure that safe space is available and accessible (parks, fields, bike paths, etc..).

5) Build more physical activity into school programs.

6) Ensure that programs and activities are inclusive and accessible for all.

7) Engage youth in the process.

To do these things, it requires high levels of cooperation, reflection, and willingness to do things differently or to try new ideas. We can’t rely on what we’ve been doing, we need to adapt. The numbers are worrisome, but within these numbers is opportunity. Solutions are complicated because youth sports is a profitable business, so it’s not so simple to just say we need to do things differently. Everyone needs to be a part of the conversation, especially youth themselves. When Donald Trump was elected, a photo made the rounds that showed a newly formed committee on women’s health. In this photo, not a single women was part of the committee. We should all be able to agree that this is wrong. Why then would we make decisions on what’s best for our youth without their direct input? The answer is we shouldn’t.

This information should get us all thinking of what we can do to better support the health of our youth. What can you do?