Portugal ranked near the bottom of the table of the sixteen countries assessed by the ‘Independent Mobility: An International Comparison’ study, which was created by the British Policy Studies Institute.
Only in South Africa were children found to be even more inactive than in Portugal, which ranked in joint 14th position, alongside Italy.
Rolled out in Portugal by Carlos Neto, a professor at University of Lisbon’s School of Human Kinetics, the Portuguese branch of the study was carried out in 2012 but the results were only released last month.
“We are in a chaotic situation. Our children are locked in their homes, they have no freedom of action, they don’t walk to school and they don’t play on the streets,” Professor Neto said, adding “we are living in an unsustainable situation, which is due to child inactivity.”
This, Professor Neto warned, could also have an impact on the children’s school performance and on public health.
The Portuguese study, Children’s Independence of Mobility, concludes that “more daring” changes to public policies are needed, drawn up especially for children and to reverse the current situation; policies that allow youngsters to enjoy outdoor spaces, which allow greater harmony between family and school life and the community, and urban policies that include “friendlier” planning for children and that see them as an integral and participating part of society.
“Our cities are not geared towards children. There is no encouragement for physical activity. We have very sedentary and inactive children. We need a real revolution in the way that we can make children more active and healthier, physically and mentally,” Carlos Neto said in comments to Lusa News Agency.
The study’s Portuguese coordinator believes Portugal’s youngsters have increasingly less freedom to be children and do things necessary to their growth, such as running, swimming, dancing, and climbing trees.
He says “immature and sedentary” children are being raised and the consequences will be medium and long-term.
“It’s not just obesity, but also cardiovascular diseases, emotional and affection-related issues, and, above all, it will be difficult for the children of our country to socialise”, Professor Neto explained, saying changes must be introduced in schools and family lifestyles.
“We are convinced this will have consequences on school success rates and on the children’s levels of happiness, because they will have difficulties adapting to grown up life”, he stressed.
The Professor also recalled how studies have proved that “more active children with better socialisation at play times learn more in the classroom and have greater school success rates.”
One of the findings in the study showed that just 35 percent of children aged eight or nine walks to school and none cycle between home and lessons; the vast majority, or 56 percent of children, are driven to school.
“Here they all travel to school by car. Children see physical spaces through the window of a vehicle. We are creating a desperate situation. It would therefore be worth discussing during the election campaigns.”
Only aged around 12 were most children allowed to travel to school unaccompanied, or cross roads alone, and they were only allowed to use public transport or bicycles unsupervised at the age of 15.
The study further highlighted that the differences between children living along the coast and in the interior are less pronounced and with regards to sedentary lifestyles their behaviour is the same.
The sixteen countries assessed in the study, and ordered from greatest to least independent mobility, were Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Denmark, UK, France, Israel, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Ireland, Australia, Portugal and Italy (in tied 14th place), and South Africa.
The Portuguese study was carried out in six different parts of Portugal considered to be representative of distinct territorial typologies: the city centre (Lisbon centre), urban (Matosinhos and Linda-a-Velha), suburban (Brandoa), small town (Silves) and rural (Redondo).
Some 1,099 children from sixteen schools and their parents and guardians took part in the study via questionnaires handed out to pupils from 3rd grade to 10th year, aged eight to 15.