24 May 2011
London, UK
Computers may have become a necessity for today’s kids, but a study says that the machines are producing a "generation of weaklings" as children swap outdoor play for computer games and surfing the internet.
The study of 10–year–olds found that the number of sit–ups they could do dropped nearly 30% between 1998 and 2008. And, while only one in 20 kids failed to hold their own weight hanging on wall bars in 1998, the number doubled to one in ten by 2008.
The Essex University study, based on a survey, also found that as children followed fewer traditional activities, such as tree–climbing, their arm strength dropped 26% ’ and their grip 7%, the Sun reported.
Children’s fitness expert Gavin Sandercock, who led the study, was quoted by the daily as saying, "Typically, these traditional activities boosted children’s strength, making them able to lift and hold their own weight."
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