Americanchildrenarenottheonlycouchpotatoeswithnearlyonethirdofchildrengloballyspending3hoursadayormorewatchingTVoroncomputersaccordingtothestudyofover70000teensin34nations.
FromArgentinatoZambiaReginaGutholdoftheWorldHealthOrganizationinGenevaandhercolleaguesfoundmostchildrenwerenotgettingenoughexerciseandthatitmadenodifferencewhethertheyliveinarichorapoorcountry.“Withregardstophysicallevelswedidn’tfindmuchofadifferencebetweenrichandpoorcountries”Gutholdsaid“Growingupinapoorcountrydoesn’tnecessarilymeankidsgetmorephysicalactivities.”
Theresearchersdefinedadequatephysicalactivityasatleastanhourofexerciseoutdoorsforatleast5daysaweek.Childrenspending3ormorehoursadaywatchingTVplayingcomputergamesorchattingwithfriendswereclassifiedassedentary.
Theresearchersfoundonlyaquarteroftheboysand15percentofthegirlsweregettingenoughexercisebythesedefinitions.Aquarterofboysandnearly30%ofgirlsweresedentaryanddidn’tgetenoughexercisewithgirlslessactivethanboysineverycountryasidefromZambia.
GirlsfromIndiawerethemostactivewith37percentmeetingexerciserecommendationwhilegirlsfromEgyptweretheleastactivewith4percentgettingenoughexercise.ChildreninMyanmarweretheleastsedentarywhilethemostsedentarynationswereSt.LuciaandtheCaymanIslands.
Peopleshowdeepconcernforkids’lackofphysicalactivityinvariousnations.Whydotheyhavealowlevelofphysicalactivity?Gutholdspeculated(认为)thaturbanizationcouldbeafactoraswellaseasyaccesstocarsandTVs.
小题1:Ifyouaresedentaryyou____________.