School children who took online Physical Education classes during Covid demonstrated better fitness versus those who did not: Reveals Sportz Village survey
Chennai, April 25, 2023 – Sportz Village, through its award-winning EduSports in-school Physical Education & S ports program has been working to improve sports education in India since 2009 and has been assessing childre n’s health on a national level for the past 12 years. Schools play an important role in promoting physical activity a mong students. The spread of COVID-19 led to the closure of schools across the world. Students stayed at home , without walking to and from school, without going in and out of the classroom without Physical Education, with out recess and without any sports activity. Sportz Village recently conducted a survey in Chennai to gauge the di fference between children who took part in online physical education classes and children who didn’t take part. The survey revealed that the children who did not take part in any online physical education classes displayed alarmingly poor fitness levels.
Sportz Village compared the difference in the performance of children who took part in online classes during C ovid and those who did not. The survey uncovered the children who took part in online PE classes were 16 % he althier compared to children who did not take part in the online classes. The children were assessed on diffe rent physical fitness parameters such as – Upper Body Strength, Lower Body Strength, Core Strength, Flexibility, Aer obic Capacity & Anaerobic Capacity. This clearly shows that even a ‘reduced’ form of structured physical activi ty (in this case – online PE classes) has a major impact when children have no access to playgrounds. In Chenn ai, children who took part in the online classes performed better in all physical fitness parameters except Lower Bo dy Strength, and in Delhi, children fared better in all physical fitness parameters except Upper Body Strength & Flexibility.
Speaking on the survey Saumil Majmudar, CEO & Managing Director, Sportz Village, said “Physical activity is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle for children and schools can play an influential role in helping students enga ge in physical exercise. School children who took online physical education classes during the COVID-19 pande mic demonstrated better fitness levels compared to those who did not participate in such classes. Covid or No C ovid, physical activity and play are imperative for a child’s holistic development and at Sportz Village we aim to revolutionize the way fitness and sports can be implemented in a child’s routine.”
About Sportz Village:
Sportz Village is the world’s largest youth sports platform that is trying to make the world a better place with an aim to get 100 million children to play sports. Established in 2003, Sportz Village’s philosophy is pillared on impr oving the health and fitness of children and getting everyone to experience the magic of sports. EduSports, A Spo rtz Village initiative is India’s No.1 sports education program being implemented in over 1,500 schools across 25 0 locations impacting 7,00,000 children. The organization believes in making sports an integral part of the educa tion of a child and is working towards developing a healthier and fitter generation by using a Structured Sports a nd Physical Education (P.E) curriculum. The curriculum has been developed based on NASPE (National Associati on for Sports and Physical Education, USA) standards.
