BENGALURU: At least three out of five children in Bengaluru have unhealthy body mass index (BMI), according to the Annual Health Survey (AHS) by Sportz Village. The survey studied 1,49,833 children between the ages of 7 and 17 years from 364 schools in 250 cities and towns across the country.
Children in Bengaluru are pretty unhealthy both in terms of their BMI and capacity for physical activity.
Around 65 per cent of children in Bengaluru have poor BMI (weight-to-height ratio of an individual used to gauge whether a person is within a healthy weight range). This is lower than the national average of 50 per cent.
The survey also found differences between girls and boys, and children studying in private and government schools.
While 35 per cent students of government schools had a healthy BMI, the figure was 47 per cent for private schools. Overall, half of Bengaluru city students had poor upper body strength, while 58 per cent had poor lower body strength, and 67 per cent had poor aerobic capacity.
On fitnaess parameters such as aerobic capacity, lower body strength, and body mass index boys fared better than girls. However girls were better in terms of anaerobic capacity, flexibility, abdominal strength and lower body strength.
Students with at least two physical education classes per week had a better aerobic capacity than those who had a fewer number of classes.
"The amount of time a child spends on physical activity is directly correlated to the fitness parameters of upper body strength, BMI and aerobic capacity," said Saumil Majumdar, CEO, Sportz Village Schools. He said the heads of schools need to ensure adequate number of classes and structured in-school physical education programmes that are age-appropriate, inclusive and engage all children meaningfully.
