Will coronavirus make lazy teenagers even lazier? - Audio Story
3rd of May 2020 Lauren Light
In March local sporting events and competitions shutdown due to COVID-19 restrictions and by the end of the month all gyms across Australia were closed.
It is clear that there could be a tremendous impact on the ability to exercise, including how and where people would, as many states schools were also shut early.
A study into child and adolescent health published in the Lancet in 2019 showed that only 9/10 Australian teenagers are getting the minimum requirement of at least one hour of exercise a day.
Funded by the World Health Organisation, the study looked into youth activity levels and found that Australia was one of the worst and ranked 140 out of 146 countries.
These could be concerning statistics in the time of a pandemic, as it limits exercise mostly to walking, running or workouts at home.
Not all hope is lost just yet. The Government made it clear that exercise is still one of the reasons that the public could be outside for other than to shop for essentials, attend work, medical or care.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged that buying sporting equipment to allow households to exercise at home is very much essential and the country should continue to do so.
CEO of VicHealth, Sandro Demaio, released a media release reminding the community of the importance of still exercising through times like this.
“Doing some form of exercise is an easy and free way to boost both your mental and physical health, and now is the ideal time to try a new activity.”
“If you’re working or studying from home, or not currently working, you won’t be getting the incidental exercise you normally do by commuting to and from an office or uni.”
Despite the country being encouraged to exercise, Sydney beaches such as Coogee and Maroubra have been opened on and off due to too many people not following the 1.5 metre social distancing rule.
States such as WA and QLD have been the first to announce the easing of some restrictions.
So far, no word has been given on any sports, schools or gyms, but the NRL announced their return on May 28th.