Physical activity crisis: Getting our children moving

DR JOHANN Issartel of Dublin City University’s School of Health and Human Performance is not given to hyperbole. 

So when he describes the inability of Irish teens to perform basic elements of physical activity as “a potential catastrophe for public health”, he must be taken seriously.

His concerns rest on a 2014 study by Dublin City University that found just 11% of Irish adolescents had mastered basic physical movements, something that came naturally to previous generations.

Considering the amazing skills we have just witnessed by Irish sports men and women during the rugby Six Nations championships, it seems incredible that there are still so many young people in Ireland who are unable to run, jump, skip, kick or catch a ball.

But help is at hand in a unique collaboration between the GAA and the Insight Centre for Data Analytics, which today launches a far-reaching research project to interrogate the physical literacy of Irish children and address it.

Inactivity at any age can be problematical and debilitating. In young adolescents, it can have devastating and life-long effects, not just for their health but also for their social and mental wellbeing.

If any organisation can help to tackle the crisis in physical activity among Irish youngsters, the GAA can.

We salute this joint effort — in every sense.