Children nowadays are leading a sedentary lifestyle and have unhealthy eating habits. As a result, obesity among school children is on the rise. Discuss with your partner:
Answers
Children are leading a sedentary lifestyle because of many reasons:
-Lack of effort from the parents. They are too busy to devote time to the children. So, the children are not supervised well enough.
- Preference given to being indoors than the outdoors. Children prefer to stay indoors and watch TV or play video games rather than playing outside. It suits parents because then they do not have to go outside to keep a check on the children.
-Focus is more on academics than physical activities. In this competitive world, the focus is almost entirely on academics and learning cognitive skills rather than on motor skills.
-Security is a concern these days.
What can be done:
- Schools can lay emphasis on sports and ensure well-rounded development of the children. Emerging sportspersons should be recognized and encouraged in creative ways so that others are inspired to try their hands at sports.
- Parents can lay down strict rules regarding ‘screen-time’ and enforce them too.
- Children should be encouraged to go outdoors and establish play groups.
- The community should be made safer for children to play outside.
You can either use the following conversation or develop similar one using ideas from it:
Student A: Hey, I had been itching to talk to you very urgently about our friend, Archit!
Student B: Really! What happened?
Student A: I am really very upset over my brother’s habit of just sitting in front of TV for hours at a stretch.
Student B: Similar problem is at my home too! My younger sister is a perfect couch potato.
Student A: You know this sedentary habit is harmful—physically and mentally!
Student A: Playing outdoor games are so essential to the proper physical growth and development. While playing them we really have to exert our muscles, bones, sinews, tendons, and other organs. This physical movement is so wholesome for our health.
Student B: Not only this. Sitting continuously for hours and watching senseless TV programmes just affects their minds negatively. You know there are so many channels available, some of them are quite inappropriate. He might get addicted to such channels, which will further leave him worse off. I think we must do something to motivate them to play outdoor games.
Student A: What can we do? We have already tried counseling them many times.
Student A: We need to do more than counseling. We must talk to the parents and persuade them to get them enrolled in any sports club or gym. We must also talk to the principal to include more sports programmes and competitions during the academic calendar.
Student B: Yes, the school can start various sports club in the evening and with parents’ cooperation the students attending these clubs can be made mandatory.
Student A: It is a good idea. Once the students get the taste and thrill of playing games, they will find them more attractive and beneficial to them. They will willingly start playing and participating in outdoor games.
Student A: That sounds great. I think we should go and share our ideas with the principal.
Student B: I think we can also have a seminar or workshop organized for parents in the school to make them aware of their cooperation in this mission of encouraging children to play outdoor games.
Student A: That sounds great. Let’s go and make arrangements. We need to act now!