North Indian Children Less Healthy Than Rest of the Country

Bangalore: Schoolchildren in North Indian metros are less healthy than their counterparts in the rest of the country, said a recent report. The third edition of the 'EduSports School Health and Fitness Survey' covered over 49,000 children in the age group of 7 to 17 years in over 100 schools in 54 cities across the country.

The survey said "A higher incidence of obesity is observed among children from the northern states - Punjab, Delhi/NCR (National Capital Region), Rajasthan, UP (Uttar Pradesh) and Haryana as 24 percent of them have high body mass index (BMI) as against the national average of 19.9 percent."  

It also said that "Low fitness levels coupled with the lack of basic skills to play sports, unhealthy eating habits and dependence on television, internet and video games for entertainment puts an entire generation of children at a risk of growing up to become unhealthy and inactive adults," reported IANS.

The survey revealed that almost 40 percent of school-going children in India do not have the right BMI and almost 20 percent of them show signs of obesity, possessing poor body strength, poor flexibility and have undesirable BMI scores.

Geographically, children in the non-metros performed better across different fitness parameters in comparison with their counterparts in the metros.

Also Read: Bangalore Home To 43 Percent Obese People