a dangerous cocktail for two thirds of teenagers

The extension of time spent in front of the screens and without physical activity poses health risks to two thirds of young people in France today, ANSES warned in an opinion released on Monday, based on data collected even before the containment.

Among these dangers are overweight and obesity, cardiovascular risks or diabetes, but also poor sleep quality, lists the National Health Safety Agency (Anses).

“Danger thresholds”

“What worries us, and this is why we issue a warning to public authorities, is that among adolescents between 11 and 17 years, two thirds (66%) are particularly exposed to health risks, simply because they have more of two hours of screen a day and because that’s less than an hour of physical activity a day, these are danger thresholds, “explains the chef from the health agency’s nutritional risk assessment unit, Irène Margaritis.

17% of this age group is classified in an even more risky category, which accumulates less than 20 minutes of physical activity per day and more than 4h30 of sedentary life, underlines ANSES, which is based on data from a study that had carried out in 2017, called Inca3.

“At that age, we know that these behaviors are the foundation of the pathologies we will encounter in adulthood. And these lifestyle habits, in terms of sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity, we know that we will do it to find them in adulthood”, he explains Irène Margaritis.

“We need to rethink the place of physical activity”

In his opinion, ANSES points out that “children and adolescents from low-income or low-educated families appear to be the most affected by high levels of sedentary living”. Another observation is that physical activity “appears to be lower among girls in the 11-14 age group”. ANSES is sounding the alarm as spring and fall inmates further worry about physical inactivity and the time teens spend in front of screens.

“We have to rethink the place of physical activity in our life, both temporal and spatial. The rhythms of life make it very difficult to carry out physical activity outside school hours” adolescence, Irène Margaritis points out, “but we must also raise the question of urban planning, transport, the possibility of traveling by bicycle or on foot in the cities “. “Physical activity and the reduction of a sedentary lifestyle is not an advantage, it is a necessity,” he concludes.