English kids ‘among least fit in the world’

There has been a “worrying” fall in the fitness levels of English children over the past decade, new research has found.

A study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood found that increasing weight gain in children over the last ten years did not explain the falls in children’s cardiorespiratory fitness levels.

The authors of the study have warned that routinely weighing children at school may not be enough to ensure they are consistently at healthy fitness levels.

Experts claim around the world children’s fitness levels have been falling by more than four per cent a decade, with rates in the UK thought to be falling the fastest.

The authors of today’s study claim this worrying trend has largely been attributed to rising trends in overweight and obesity.

In response to the report Cathy Ross, from the British Heart Foundation, said:
“Research shows that fitness and fatness are both important for health in children and adults, and we should try to keep ourselves, and our children, physically fit as well as maintaining a healthy weight.