Couch potato kids will suffer later with years of ill-health

According to British researchers lazy children are setting themselves up for years of ill-health because they are not active enough.

The researchers from Leicester, Professor Kamlesh Khunti, Professor Melanie Davies and Dr Margaret Stone, have conducted one of the largest studies of physical activity levels of inner city school children.

The team from Leicester University say the epidemic numbers of 'mini-couch potatoes' are putting themselves at risk of chronic health problems in later life.

For their research the scientists looked at the activity levels among more than 3,500 pupils from five inner-city secondary schools in Leicester.

They found that only half the children walked to school and many children no longer take part in competitive sport at school.

Half of children did not appear to get regular exercise, and spent four hours or more a day watching television or playing computer games.

The team say junk food, sedentary lifestyles and the 'electronic babysitters' of TV and computers are the culprits in the creation of couch potato children.

Health experts say the number of fat children has doubled in ten years and one in four children aged 11-15 years is now classified as obese and their health is threatened.

The study leader Professor Kamlesh Khunti says the need for obesity prevention measures is a 'major target' for the Government and health experts, and inactive behaviour such as watching television may pre-empt subsequent adult weight problems and obesity in children and adolescents.

Professor Khunti says the physical activity levels in inner city school children are very low, and parents, schools and community health providers need to address the issue in order to reduce their future risks of developing diabetes and heart disease.

Khunti says children of South Asian origin were at particular risk of both heart disease and diabetes and the children of parents who suffer from these conditions were also at extra risk of developing them as a result of inactivity.

The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation.