One out of three Indian kids has unhealthy BMI, reveals survey

New Delhi: A new study has found that almost one out of three school-going children in the country does not have a healthy body mass index (BMI).

The seventh Annual School Health and Fitness Study 2016, conducted by EduSports, revealed that the fitness and BMI levels of school children in India - regardless of age, gender, region or city - continue to be far from satisfactory.

Covering over 1,69,932 children in 326 schools from across 86 cities and 26 states, they survey assessed fitness parameters, like sprint capacity, flexibility, lower and upper body strength, abdominal strength and body mass index (BMI).

The survey found that 69 per cent girls have a healthy BMI compared to 62 per cent boys - although boys showed stronger lower body strength than girls.

According to the survey, the percentage of children with an unhealthy BMI increased from 20% last year to 33% this year.

It also found that schools with three or more physical education periods per week were healthier with students - faring about 3-5% better across parameters – than those with less then three physical education periods.

“Children are becoming less active for environmental or interpersonal reasons. Lack of physical activity increases the risk of obesity and health-related problems in adolescence, and adulthood,” said Saumil Majmudar, CEO and Co-founder, EduSports. “Schools provide the ideal environment to promote physical activity at the right age and improve fitness standards among children,” he said.

BMI is a measure used to determine childhood overweight and obesity. BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters.

Experts suggest that that children and adolescents participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day to stay healthy and fit.