Not enough sports, too many screens … the troubling sedentary lifestyle of our kids



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Phlemme: great laziness, desire to do nothing. Often we tend to associate this word with adolescence, but if you add the passion for screens and the refusal of any physical exercise, the cocktail is eminently toxic for adults in the making. This is underlined by an expert report by the Health Security Agency (ANSES) which will be made public on Monday.

ANSES is alarmed by the fact that two thirds of 11/17 year olds have sedentary behaviors and physical inactivity that could expose them to health risks. “Outside of school hours, half of adolescents spend more than four and a half hours a day on screens and / or practice less than twenty minutes a day of physical activity,” explains Professor Irène Margaritis, head of the unit. food-related risk assessment at ANSES. However, the health risks associated with this sedentary lifestyle are many and very serious. “

Gaining fat, obesity, eating disorders, poor sleep quality, increased risk of cardiovascular disease or some cancers in adulthood… “The problem is that the habits adopted in adolescence tend to grow. install “, worries the specialist.

Obviously, imprisonment encourages even less young people to “move”. “The current context is particularly favorable to the increase in the time spent in a sedentary lifestyle, and more particularly the time spent on screens, with the development of an abundant digital offer and new technologies that encourage sedentary lifestyle even more, ANSES points out. The effects of confinement also accentuate the tendency to physical inactivity. “

Who hasn’t struggled in the past few weeks to get their teenager to go “stick their nose out”? “This is the whole problem of packaging,” explains Irène Margaritis. The less you do, the more effort it takes and it causes you stress when you have to move. Being lazy is just an avoidance strategy because it’s hard to get back to physical activity when you’re doing nothing. “

The most affected are adolescents between 15 and 17 years

In detail, ANSES was able to measure that the sedentary standard of living was even higher among older adolescents (15-17 years) and among young people from less privileged backgrounds. Also, for 11-14 years, girls are less likely (15.5%) than boys (24%) to practice at least one hour of physical activity a day.

But those who say that moving your body does not necessarily mean doing sports. “Even to walk, play outside, carrying a load or going up or down stairs contributes to physical activity,” he explains ANSES. “For example, I encouraged my 17-year-old daughter to walk at least 20 minutes on her 40-minute school trip,” explains Irène Margaritis. When he gets to high school, his brain is oxygenated, he tells me he feels better than when he only used public transport. “

In this period of confinement that pushes adolescents even more to “cocoon themselves” in the bedroom, on the sofa or under the duvet with their eyes mesmerized by the screen, Irene Margaritis encourages parents to “lead by example”. For example, he recommends that you take your child or children with you for an outing in the fresh air by checking the box “short trip within the limit of one hour per day” on the travel certificate. “It’s a good way to attract them outside,” says the ANSES specialist. This allows us to create a special bond with our children and perhaps trigger in them the need to move ”.

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