Educatia fizica, copiii si economia.

[Ro]

Va mai amintiti orele de educatie fizica din clasele 1-4?

Eu, nu. Asta in principiu pentru ca nu faceam ore de educatie fizica in perioada respectiva. Ca sa fiu mai precis le faceam, dar cu doamna invatatoare. Dansa avea in jur de 60 de ani si nu mai avea niciun apetit pentru asa ceva, asa ca aceste ore se transformau in ‘Citire’ sau ‘Matematica’. In cel mai bun caz faceam 5 minute de ‘stretching’ in clasa, langa banca. Nu vreau sa zic ca din cauza asta am ajuns sa fac sport doar dupa 20 de ani, dar cu siguranta a contat.

Zilele trecute am urmarit cu uimire propunerea ministrului educatiei de a reduce numarul de ore de educatie fizica pentru clasele 1-4 si inlocuirea lor cu ore de “Joc si miscare” tinute de invatatori, de unde si amintirile mele. Ulterior, propunerea a fost dezmintita, dar simplul fapt ca s-a adus in discutie acest aspect ma face sa ma intreb daca exista o gandire strategica (cat de cat!) in cladirea aceea mare din centrul capitalei.

Sunt de acord ca sunt prea multe ore pe care copiii le petrec la scoala, dar dintre toate orele de Religie, Desen, Muzica… chiar Educatia fizica trebuie sacrificata?

Poate cei care au adus in discutie acest aspect nu cunosc statisticile… desi daca ei nu isi bazeaza deciziile pe statistici atunci ce sens mai au..

La nivel mondial

• 80% dintre adolescenti nu sunt destul de activi conform recomandarilor Organizatiei Mondiale a Sanatatii

• 1 din 4 adulti nu sunt destul de activi conform acelorasi recomandari.

Studiul HSBC 2013 -2014 a relevat urmatoarele statistici legat de procentul de tineri care reusesc sa indeplineasca recomandarile OMS.

*MVPA – activitate fizica moderata sau viguroasa

In Romania

• 26,75% dintre copiii de 8 ani din România au probleme de greutate

• 11,6% dintre cei sub 8 ani suferă de obezitate

* Surse – Proiectul DIYPES – Cluj School of Public Health, GSP.ro

Recomandarile Organizatiei Mondiale a Sanatatii cu privire la activitatea fizica sunt:

• Pentru copii:

· 60 de minute zilnice de activitate fizica moderata sau viguroasa

· De cel putin 3 ori pe saptamana ar trebui introduse activitati menite sa mareasca forta musculara si osoasa

• Pentru adulti

· 150 de minute saptamanale de activitate fizica moderata sau 75 de min de activitate fizica intensa

· De cel putin 2 ori pe saptamana ar trebui introduse activitati menite sa creasca forta musculara

Efectele sedentarismului

Efectele sedentarisumului devin din ce in ce mai cunoscute si se traduc prin obezitate, risc ridicat de diabet, boli cardiovasculare si probleme posturale. Conform unei statistici din 2012 anual mor 5.3 milioane de oameni datorita efectelor sedentarismului (in 2008 erau 3.2 milioane). Oare unde ne situam in 2019?

Daca nu educam o persoana sa faca sport, sa indrageasca activitatea fizica de cand este copil, care sunt sansele sa fie o persoana active cand va deveni adult? Mai ales ca studiile arata ca adolescentii fac din ce in ce mai putina miscare o data cu cresterea in varsta.

Programa școlară și eforturile de creștere a activității fizice pot avea un impact major în reducerea obezității intrucat pe langa ceea ce consuma fiecare copil, numărul de ore de activitate fizică este determinant in reglarea greutății corporale.

Motivul din spatele propunerii facuta de minister este de provenienta economica. Prin reducerea orelor de educatie fizica si trecerea lor la invatatori, se reduc orele profesorilor pentru aceasta disciplina si implicit si costurile salariale ale ministerului. Pare o ecuatie simpla, din pacate guvernanti nu isi dau seama ca de fapt mai sunt cativa factori pe care nu i-au luat in considerare…

Un copil care nu face miscare va deveni un adult cu probleme de sanatate care implicit va apela la sistemul de sanatate, costand statul,in final, mai mult.

Bineinteles pentru a reusi sa schimbam o mentalitate ar trebui ca parintii sa lucreze impreuna cu scoala pentru a scade nivelul absenteismului la orele de educatie fizica si a renunta la asa numitele ‘scutiri’.

In incheiere, va intreb - chiar merita sa reducem orele de educatie fizica? Sau ar trebui in schimb sa ne canalizam energia sa vedem cum putem sa ii determinam pe copii sa faca mai multa miscare.

[En]

Do you remember the physical education classes in the first grades?

I don’t. This is mostly because there weren’t any. Or to be clearer, there were, but our teacher wasn’t interested in them at all. We used to do either Reading or Math and maybe a bit of ‘stretching’ in the classroom. I don’t want to say that this is the reason because I only started doing sport in my 20s but it has definitely counted.

During the last days I followed with amazement the discussion around the proposal to reduce the number of physical education classes for the first grades and replacing them with some classes directed by teachers that aren’t specifically qualified for physical education. In the meantime the proposal was denied, but only the fact that this was brought up for discussion made me question whether those people, in that large building in the capital city, actually have any strategic thinking at all.

I do agree that there are way too many classes, but out of all religion, drawing or music classes out there, do we really need to cut the Physical Education ones?

Maybe those who brought this up do not know the statistics… but if they don’t, who should?!

Globally

• 80% of teenagers are not active enough based on the WHO recommendations

• 1 out of 4 adults are not active enough based on the same recommendations

HSBC study from 2013-2014 revealed the following statistics around what percentage of youngsters are meeting the WHO recommendations.

*MVPA – Moderate to vigorous physical activity

In Romania

• 26,75% out of the 8 years old kids have weight problems

• 11,6% of the kids under 8 years old have obesity

*Source –DIYPES Projec – Cluj School of Public Health, GSP.ro

World Health Organization recommendations for physical activity are:

• For children:

· 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity daily

· At least 3 times a week trainings targeted to increase muscular and bone strength

• For adults

· 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity every week

· At least 2 times a week trainings targeted to increase muscular strength

Sedentary behavior effects

The effects of sedentary behavior are becoming more and more obvious and are reflected in chronicle diseases like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and postural deficiencies. According to some statistics from 2012 there are around 5.3M annual deaths caused by sedentary behavior (in 2008 there were 3.2 M). I wonder what are the statistics for 2019?

If we don’t educate a person to be active and to love physical activity from their youth, what are the odds that that person will become an active adult? Especially as the studies show that teenagers are less and less active as they grow older.

The school curriculum and the efforts to increase the level of physical activity can have a major impact on reducing the obesity problem. Along with what the youngsters eat, the number of physical activity hours are key in balancing the body weight.

The reason behind the government proposal is economical. By reducing the number of physical education classes and cutting the number of physical education professors, they reduce the costs supported by the ministry. This looks like an easy equation, however what they are omitting are some important factors for that calculation. A kid that is not active will become an adult with health problems that will turn to the medical system for assistance and in the end will cost the state even more.

In order to change children mentality, we need to have schools and parents working together to reduce the absenteeism and stop taking the students out of classes on supposed medical reasons.

In the end, I have a question to reflect on - does it really worth reducing the number of physical education classes? Or should we rather focus on determining how we could convince young people to do more physical activity?