Early practice. And those who don't practice early will be left behind. According to new analyses, children in Germany are moving a little more on average and the number of overweight first-graders is declining slightly – but that is no reason to breathe a sigh of relief, says the dpa. On the contrary: "The gap between very fit children and those who don't exercise at all is widening," says Alexander Woll from the Institute for Sports and Sports Science (IfSS) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). "There are more and more children with motor problems."
The researchers' findings are based, among other things, on the long-term study "Motorik-Modul," in which the motor skills of nearly 5,000 children and adolescents between the ages of 4 and 17 were recorded between 2003 and 2006 and between 2009 and 2012. The children had to do push-ups, run backwards, hop or jump. The comparison between the two study periods – the results have only been available for a short time – showed a slight upward trend. But, "35 percent of 4- to 17-year-olds, for example, can't take three steps backward on a three-inch-wide bar," Woll says.
Woll, who has overseen the study from the beginning and will continue it in several waves until 2021, concludes: "Even if the negative trend has stopped for the time being, the situation is still very bad." While society has never been as sporty as it is now. "At the same time, however, lack of exercise has never before been as big a problem as it is today." Movement paradox he calls it.