The mental illness among children and teenagers has, according to several studies, increased in recent years and many schools are therefore working to get more movement in school time.

In the classroom, the students got their own bicycle under the bench. Now, at the beginning, the children cycle about 20 minutes each day, but the goal is that there will be up to 45 minutes of movement a day.

The classroom at Rydaholm's school outside Värnamo Photo: SVT / Linda Mathillas

Ill health has increased

According to the Center for Sports Research, in 2017 only 22 percent of girls and 44 percent of boys between the ages of 11 and 17 came up in the recommendation of 60 minutes of movement per day advocated by WHO, the World Health Organization.

- We have to take the child health alarm seriously. We already see that many children feel good about cycling and that they do not have as much running in their legs, says Pontus Bjällsjö, teacher at Rydaholm's school.

The results are compared

The study is done together with Linnaeus University and Småland's Sports and lasts for nine weeks. The children have been asked to fill out a questionnaire about the experience of health and leisure activities.

The same questionnaire should be completed again after the end of the study. Then the result is also compared with a fourth class that has not cycled.

- I feel very good about this. Some see it as a competition, but for me the most important thing is that I move, says student Elias Ganekind.

But isn't there much noise in the classroom?

- No we don't think it sounds much and if you have a review, you can hardly hear the sound of the bikes, says Pontus Bjällsjö.

In the clip, the children tell them what they like about the bikes.