Recently, the World Health Organization carries out a study over 70,000 teens in 34 nations. The study is among school children aged from 13 to 15 years old of many countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe,. the Middle East and so on. The result is beyond expectation. 61) {{U}}American children aren't the only couch potatoes with nearly one third of children globally spending three hours a day or more watching TV or on computers.{{/U}} Regina Guthold of the World Health Organization in Geneva and her colleagues found most children aren't getting enough exercise. There is no difference among the children who live in rich countries and poor countries. Guthold said. 62) {{U}}"Growing up in a poor country does not necessarily mean that kids get more physical activity. "{{/U}}
Adequate physical activity is defined as at least an hour of exercise outside of gym class at least five days a week. 63) {{U}}Apart from time in school or time spent doing homework, child who spends three or more hours a day watching TV is classified as sedentary.{{/U}}
According to the above standard, only one quarter of the boys and 15 percent of the girls were getting enough exercise. 64) {{U}}A quarter of boys and nearly 30 percent of girls were sedentary and didn't get enough exercise with girls less active than boys in every country aside from Zambia.{{/U}}
Uruguay had the active boys as high as 42 percent, while Zambia had the lowest, at 8 percent.
65) {{U}}Girls from India was the most active, with 37 percent meeting exercise recommendations, while girls from Egypt were the least active, with just 4 percent getting adequate exercise.{{/U}} The most sedentary nations were St. Lucia and the Cayman Islands. 58 percent of boys and 64 percent of girls spent at least three hours a day in sedentary activities. The least sedentary nation was Myanmar. In this country only 13 percent of boys and 8 percent of girls classified as sedentary. The study didn't give us a detailed reason about the various situations. Guthold speculated that urbanization could be a factor as well as access to cars and TVs.