To ask what activity your non sporty teens do in the evenings in light of the BBC reported link between inactivity and the rise in teenage depression.

[Gr3yCl3y]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-51475399

15 year old Dd with loads of GCSE homework, not overweight but non sporty and dyspraxic. Keen to make evenings more active. Weekends easier to sort.

Isn't the rise in depression more likely due to the awful, awful government, awful, awful opposition, economic failure, poor job market, epidemics, massive rise in violent crime, and environmental devastation?

But no, got to be the smartphones and computer games. Best way to help a depressed person is to take away their comforts and sources of socialisation and happiness.

Not to mention savage cuts to mental health services, medication shortages, and deliberate destruction of healthcare in general?

When its warmer weather my sons (15 & 17) go on the train to our local beach. They hang out with friends and have a bbq. Or the 15 yr old goes to our woodland and builds a den

@kamizawa whilst your examples could well be a good argument for rise in adultadults depression, most teenagers I know are either too self-absorbed or simply naive to much outside their own lives to even be very aware of these issues let alone it have an impact on their mental health.

Surely anyone can see lack of human contact and proper face-to-face social interaction can impact your self esteem and mental health.

My 15 yr old dd (totally non sporty) has recently started coming to a yoga class with me once a week and we do a family walk most weekends. We also sit down as a family for an evening meal and play games chat. Nothing radical but gets her out of her room and interacting with other people!

My not overweight but non sporty and dyspraxic 10 year old goes on the exercise bike or uses the Switch Ring Fit Adventure game (only screen allowed during the week ) or does 10-15 minutes of exercises on the mat (push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, skipping, coordination exercises etc). He's bit young for using a suspension trainer, but your DD is probably old enough.

Isn't the rise in depression more likely due to the awful, awful government, awful, awful opposition, economic failure, poor job market, epidemics, massive rise in violent crime, and environmental devastation?

I would imagine that very few teenagers care about these issues.

DD has music lessons, cadets twice a week and goes out with friends to the local pool hall or pizza place now and again. Other DD will be a teen in a few months and she goes to Guides once a week and is on the waiting list for music and singing lessons too.

I always have a bit of an issue with this. On the one hand, yes, activity is great, and you don't want them lounging around watching TV or sitting on their phones all night. However, being avid readers (like me), both my DD's sit around for hours reading, and no way would I discourage this. They will also draw or paint or play the piano for relaxation. Neither do any sport, but they do both walk about an hour every day, and often do something like Yoga/Stretching before bed.

As a family we will generally go out for walk at the weekend, but none of us are "sporty" folk, and that's just the way it is.

Going for walks is good exercise. It’s good for physical and mental health.

I know the duke of Edinburgh award isn’t for everyone, but I think it has some really good elements to it - exercise, volunteering and learning a skill.
It can really help kids to increase self esteem and relieve boredom. Plus get off their gadgets for a bit.

My eldest did youth theatre: active but non-competitive.

"Isn't the rise in depression more likely due to the awful, awful government, awful, awful opposition, economic failure, poor job market, epidemics, massive rise in violent crime, and environmental devastation?

I would imagine that very few teenagers care about these issues."

Aren't teens the ones most likely to get stabbed or see their friends stabbed?

Are they immune to the economic consequences of their parents losing their jobs?

DS walks 1.5 miles a day to and from the bus stop for school. He does martial arts twice a week and seems to clock up a fair few steps each day. He goes to a school whose grounds are massive though, so even walking between lessons can clock up the steps.

Drama groups in the evening? My DD does a lot of stretching and movement exercises in her panto classes.

Volunteers as a youth leader at Scouts, attends Explorers and we walk, as a family, at the weekend. He sometimes goes for a bike ride too.

At that age (and now) I never wanted to go back out again when I got in from school. I went running a few mornings a week before school. I know you said non sporty but would non competitive exercise be better (I know almost nothing about dyspraxia I'm afraid)?
It leaves evenings to relax at any rate.