Research: Children Are Significantly Less Fit than Decades Ago

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The American Heart Association presented research on 50 studies on running fitness between 1964 and 2010 that involved more than 25 million kids, ages 9 to 17, in 28 countries. Most of the studies measured cardiovascular endurance by how far kids could run in a set time or how long it took to run a set distance. The tests typically lasted five to 15 minutes or covered a half-mile to two miles.

The results indicated the following:

• cardiovascular endurance declined significantly within the 46 years 
• average changes were similar between boys and girls, younger and older kids, and across different regions, although they varied from one country to another
• today's children are about 15% less aerobically fit than children 30 years ago i.e. about 90 seconds slower when doing a timed mile.

Reference: Douglas, C. Kids' Aerobic Fitness Said to Decline Dramatically. Retreived from Runner's World on the web on 11/20/2013 at http://www.runnersworld.com/health/kids-aerobic-fitness-said-to-decline-dramatically.

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