In this year's national survey, which examines physical fitness and athletic ability for fifth graders and second graders nationwide, the national average of eight items such as 50 meters running and ball throwing is the national average for boys and elementary and junior high school students. It turned out to be the lowest since I started the survey.
The Japan Sports Agency analyzes that the background is the decrease in exercise time and the longer time spent looking at smartphones due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
Since 2008, the national government has been surveying physical fitness and athletic ability in eight items such as 50-meter dash, ball throwing, and repeated horizontal jumps for fifth graders and second graders nationwide, and has also conducted a questionnaire on lifestyle habits.
Last year's survey was canceled due to the spread of the new corona, but this year it was conducted on approximately 2.01 million people.
Among them, the national average of "total physical fitness score", which was calculated by quantifying the grades of 8 items and totaling out of 80 points, decreased for both men and women of elementary and junior high school students compared to the previous time. It has been the lowest since I started.
Specifically, the 1500m run for boys and the 1000m run for girls in junior high school were both slowed down by about 7 seconds, and in the upper body raising that repeats the abdominal muscles in 30 seconds, both men and women in elementary school were 0.9 times less. I did.
In addition, according to the lifestyle questionnaire, the percentage of children who exercise 420 minutes or more in a week excluding physical education classes is decreasing, while the percentage of children who spend more than 2 hours a day watching TV or smartphones is decreasing. The percentage is increasing.
Specifically, 62.4% of elementary school students are boys and 53.2% of girls, and 70.1% of junior high school students are boys and 67.3% of girls, an increase of 3 points to 7 points compared to the previous survey.
The Japan Sports Agency analyzes that the spread of the new corona infection may have spurred a decrease in exercise time and an increase in time spent looking at smartphones.
Details of the results of the physical fitness and athletic ability survey
Details of the results of this year's physical fitness and athletic ability survey.
Physical strength total point
The national average of the "total physical fitness score",
which is a
total of 80 points obtained by quantifying eight items,
is 52.5 points for boys
,
1.1 points lower than the previous survey
, and 54.7 points for girls, 0.9 points. It has dropped.
For junior high school students,
▽ boys scored 41.1 points, a decrease of 0.5 points, and
▽ girls scored 48.4 points, a decrease of 1.6 points.
Of these, boys were the lowest for both elementary and junior high school students since the survey started in 2008.
Result of each item
Looking at each item,
▽ "Upper body raising" that repeats the abdominal muscles in 30 seconds
was 18.9 times for elementary school boys and 18.1 times for elementary school girls, both of which decreased by 0.9 times compared to the previous time.
▽ In the "20m shuttle run", the number of
elementary school boys decreased by 3.4 times from the previous time to 46.9 times, and the number of elementary school girls decreased by 38.2 times and 2.6 times.
▽ For junior high school students,
1500 meters for boys was 6 minutes 47 seconds 2 and 7 seconds 2 slower than the previous time, and 1000 meters for girls was 4 minutes 58 seconds 3 and 7 seconds 7 slower.
▽ "Repeat horizontal jump"
was 40.4 points for elementary school boys, a decrease of 1.3 points, and 38.7 points for elementary school girls, a decrease of 1.4 points.
In addition, "ball throwing" has shortened by 1 meter to 20.6 meters for elementary school boys, and "grip strength", "50 meters running", and "standing width jump" have been on a downward trend except for junior high school boys.
On the other hand, "long-seat forward bending" has generally improved.
living habit
Excluding children's physical education classes, the percentage of exercise time per week of 420 minutes or more was
▽ elementary school boys 47.8%,
▽ elementary school girls 28.3%,
▽ junior high school boys 77.6%,
▽ junior high school girls 57%. Compared to the previous time, it has decreased by about 3 points.
On the other hand, the percentage of people who spend more than 2 hours a day watching TV, smartphones, game consoles, etc. on weekdays is
62.4% for elementary school boys
, 53.2% for elementary school girls,
and 70.1% for junior high school boys. ,
▽ Junior high school girls accounted for 67.3%, an increase of 7 points from 3 points compared to the previous time.
Especially for boys, 15.9% of elementary school students and 14.6% of junior high school students spend more than 5 hours a day, which means that the time tends to be longer.
Expert "You should convey the value of physical activity"
Regarding the results of this survey, Professor Takahiro Nakano of Chukyo University, who specializes in children's sports science and was involved in the analysis of the results, said, "In particular, items with longer exercise times, such as shuttle runs and endurance running, are showing a downward trend. Due to the influence of Corona, contact with friends and friends was greatly restricted, and the behavior of exercising was put on the brakes, which is also considered to be a factor in the decline. "
On top of that, "If you get familiar with exercise on a daily basis, you will be heading toward securing time to exercise even if you have a limited amount of time. We have to convey the value, "he said, pointing out that efforts should be made to convey to children the importance of exercising to school sites and parents.