WHO Says Games Are Making Your Kids Fat and Lazy
By Evan Elden Eller 03rd Apr 2010
1,044 views ShareThis The World Health Organization says nearly a third of Earth's kids are not getting enough exercise, and video games are part of the problem.
After a recent study of 72,845 schoolchildren aged 13 to 15 in 34 nations, the World Health Organization has concluded that the kids these days are fat and lazy. Nearly a third of teenagers around the world are spending at least three hours a day glued to a screen, either playing games, watching TV, or surfing the net. These kids were classified by the WHO as sedentary, while kids that get at least one hour of exercise five or more days a week were classified as active. However, this doesn't count exercise in gym classes. Coasting on gym class exercise would be cheating.
With these criteria, 25% of boys and 15% of girls are active, while 25% of boys and 30% of girls are sedentary. In fact, boys are more active than girls in 33 of the 34 nations studied. Zambia is the only country where the girls are more active than the boys, but that's because Zambia has the laziest boys in the world, and only 8% are considered active. Not to be outdone, the least active girls in the world are in Egypt, where only 4% are considered active.
