A government-funded survey released on April 2 showed that more than 80 percent of Taiwanese aged 3 to 8 do not exercise as much as the WHO recommends for young people — about seven hours per week — and that it might affect their development.
The study on child development, funded by the National Science and Technology Council, and conducted by National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Family and Child Science professor Chang Chien-ju (張鑑如) and her team, tracked 1,175 children aged 3 to 6 and 2,365 children aged 7 to 8.
Chang said that multiple studies showed physical activity enhances cognitive function, including attention, memory and problem-solving skills, and that children who lack regular exercise might experience challenges in motor skills development, academic performance, cognitive development and even in confidence levels.
The WHO recommends that people aged 5 to 17 engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, or seven hours per week, but the survey found that less than 20 percent of Taiwanese met the guidelines, compared with 42 percent in the US.
They found that only about 30 percent of children in the age group participate in moderate to high-intensity exercise, compared with 63 percent in Japan, and that they have physical education (PE) classes at elementary school, but only about 80 minutes per week.
Similar results were found in previous studies on different age groups, including a survey released by the Child Welfare League Foundation last year that found 70 percent of children aged 11 to 13 failed to meet the WHO recommendation, only 34.7 percent engage in physical activity during recess, and only 24 percent of fathers and 12 percent of mothers exercise regularly.
A Health Promotion Administration survey last year found 47.3 percent of adults aged 18 and above failed to meet the WHO recommendation for adults — at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. A Sports Administration survey this year found 69.6 percent of people aged 13 or older did not have the habit of exercising regularly.
The studies indicate most Taiwanese, regardless of age, engage in insufficient exercise, and a Sports Administration survey in 2023 found “too tired,” “too lazy to exercise,” and “no time to exercise” as common reasons adults cite for not exercising.
However, Chang and some studies have suggested that if parents engage in physical activity, their children are more likely to follow suit, and that doing household chores could help children’s physical development.
It seems that for children to engage in more physical activity, increasing the length of PE classes in school might not be enough — in practice, many PE classes do not follow the curriculum and become “free time” for students, and are sometimes “borrowed” by other teachers to conduct academic tests.
As the WHO has listed insufficient physical activity as a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases and the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, it is important that families, schools, the government and the private sector come together to create a society that promotes physical activity for everyone.
Teachers should be provided with more training and awareness of children’s development to improve the quality of PE classes, boost student engagement, and perhaps reduce students’ stress about their PE grades, and instead try to teach them to enjoy physical activity.
Parents should be reminded of the benefits of physical activity to themselves and their children, and encouraged to make time for chores, exercise or sports.
While governmental health agencies consistently encourage people to exercise, including offering people aged 16 to 22 an annual NT$500 voucher for sports events, it should carefully evaluate the policy to understand its long-term effect.
The government could work with healthcare facilities to raise public awareness, as well as subsidize the private sector to come up with ways to encourage people to make physical activity part of their lifestyle.
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