Move the butt, kiddo, or you’ve had it

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently wrote to all its schools that physical education (PE) classes must be held daily up to Class X. The letter said that physical education teaches important conflict resolution skills, including team work, fairplay and communication, leading to reduced violent behaviour among children. Further, children who participate in physical education and sports develop a positive attitude towards life.

Young people today, particularly those living in congested urban areas, are starved of physical activity. The distraction of the omnipresent television and the internet-linked computer is a potent reality in most middle-class homes, providing them with an incentive to become couch potatoes. Affluence and bad dietary habits have worsened the problem, as a recent obesity survey conducted by the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC) and other organisations discovered. Private schools, generally populated by the rich and middle classes, had significantly higher levels of obesity in Delhi (33%) compared to government schools (less than 10%). Delhi and Mumbai have more obesity problems than other cities, being the top two ranked cities by obesity levels among teens (ages 14-18).

That physical inactivity and junk food lead to a host of problems has been well documented in the West, where an entire generation has been destroyed by it. Fighting obesity has become an obsession in the West, best epitomised by US First Lady Michelle Obama, who is leading a campaign in her country. In India, obesity has not yet reached epidemic proportions nationally, not least because the vast majority are poor. But the big metros and cities are heading there. What compounds the problem is the disappearance of open spaces where children can play. This is particularly true of our metros. Since it is futile to expect any sudden increase in playing grounds, the second-best option is to give children as much physical activity as possible in schools.

Yet, while much lip service has been paid to getting students to play outdoors and attend PE classes, the fact is that in most schools PE is merely seen as a break from the routine of studies.

The effort should be to get students, parents, and teachers to treat PE on a par with mathematics and science. We all need to realise that staying physically fit is no less important than learning Newton’s three laws of motion. Government, schools and parents must break the inertia.