Often to explain the high percentage of young Italian sedentary it’s said that it’s the fault of the school that does not promote program of physical activity, not by stimulating their participation in the world of sports. Certainly this is one of the explanations of the reduced athletic involvement of adolescents. But there is another important issue to keep in mind and directly affects families. Let’s just say that most of the Italian families do not conduct a lifestyle physically active, even adults aged 25 to 65 years practice rarely sport and are often overweight:
- 32% of adults are overweight and 11% are obese.
- 20% of adults are physically active on a continuous basis, the remaining 80% occasionally practice or it’s completely sedentary.
Many of these adults are parents and their daily example teachto their children their own life style. So it is not a coincidence that, in Italy, the peak of sporting activities for girls is around 11 years while for boys to 14 years. In the following ages abandoning sports is a constant, characterizing the rest of adolescence and early adulthood.
I heard that instead we should be glad, because these percentages indicate a considerable increase of the sport of adults and young people in the last 30 years. This reasoning is wrong, however, because at that time the adults were much more physically active because they walked more often and for longer distances and the obesity had not yet become a national health problem. Moreover, even if the young at school did little physical activity, they could play in the street and go to the oratory and this made them more active. And they were not chased by parents with their snacks. Today this is impossible, there is no more free and spontaneous play, and there are other forms of entertainment that take them away from the sport.
Finally, the parents are a decisive issue for the development of a physically active lifestyle and they should be sensitized and helped to make the right choices for themselves and for their children.
