«We need to reach children who don't move on their own initiative»

Exercise and sport are good for children - not only physically, but also mentally: they learn to deal with winning and losing and experience a social system that shapes and supports them. Sports physician Susi Kriemler has been researching the physical activity and health of children and young people for years. She explains why children and young people should be more active.

Image: Adobe Stock

Interview: Stefanie Wolff-Heinze

Mrs Kriemler, learning to walk and swim, throwing a ball - young children move spontaneously, full of joy and pride in their progress. So the WHO's warning that 80 per cent of children and young people suffer from a lack of physical activity is astonishing. When and why do our children lose the fun of physical activity?

At pre-school age, many children are still sufficiently active and enjoy being active. This is where it is particularly important: Provide opportunities and make parents aware of this - especially those for whom exercise is a foreign concept.

A major decrease in physical activity occurs when children start school. From one day to the next, they have to sit at the school desk instead of romping around outside. The number two enemy of physical activity is travelling to school, which often takes place passively. And the third enemy of physical activity is probably the media, which prioritises winning in its reporting.

It would be ideal if sports programmes were free so that all children and young people could have the same opportunity to experience sport.

This has a particularly detrimental effect on the group of children and young people who do not enjoy exercise or do not experience social integration through sport. We need to reach these children and young people and make exercise and sport a desirable experience. This is only possible with the credo: fun with friends.

It is generally recognised that exercise has a positive effect on a child's development and health. Do parents and schools need more information on this topic?

It's never too much, but we should still be careful not to come across as apostles. Especially in view of the fact that more and more children are going to day schools and therefore have less free time, it is important that sport takes place in their free time. This can also be during the lunch break at school or afterwards.

Susi Kriemler is a paediatrician and sports physician and President of the Swiss Society for Sports Medicine. She conducts research into physical activity and health in children.

It would be ideal if sports programmes were free for everyone so that all children and young people could have the same opportunity to enjoy sporting experiences. Such an offer would certainly also reach those children to a certain extent who do not «get moving» of their own accord.

You have been researching in the field of paediatrics and sports medicine for many years: in addition to the «no desire to exercise» phenomenon, do you also observe a trend towards «too much sport»?

The gap is widening here. Specialisation is happening earlier, ambitions for success are increasing - this is part of our society. Eating disorders, for example, appear wherever gracefulness or low body weight are seen as a success factor. Many young girls exercise excessively in order to maintain their «ideal of beauty». There are also stories of abuse such as doping, loneliness and even sexual assault. Fortunately, these are marginal phenomena, but any of them is definitely too much!

Prof. Dr Susi Kriemler explores the topic in more depth in an interview on 16 June 2023 entitled «Too much or too little - how much sport is good for children?» as part of the «Kosmos Kind» series

Lecture cycle «Cosmos child»

The Elternsein Foundation, publisher of the Swiss parenting magazine Fritz+Fränzi, has launched the "Akademie. For the child. Giedion Risch" has launched the exclusive lecture cycle «Kosmos Kind». Recognised experts address different aspects of childhood and convey them in a way that is understandable and relevant to everyday life. Fritz+Fränzi subscribers benefit from discounted tickets.