Sports day shock

[Mrslarge24]

My children have recently had their sports days.
I have one very sporty child, and one that gets very anxious about anything sport-related and dreads sports day! Much like myself as a kid.
One sports day was for y3&y4, the other was for Y5 & y6.
I was amazed at the lack of general fitness in so many of the kids.
They had to do a "long-distance run" which was about 200m. A huge amount of them couldn't run it all and some didn't even make it half way before walking and panting.
My non-sporty one managed it fine, because although he doesn't enjoy much sport we do go for long walks, he plays in the garden alot and loves swimming with us so has a basic fitness level. Much like myself, I'm no fitness fanatic!
AIBU to think this is shocking to see children of this age not be able to run/jog 200m?!
i guess it's computers/iPads etc but at what point does a parent start to feel ashamed to have let their children get so unfit?!
Made me feel quite sad 😢

It is framed as a long-distance run in the OP, not a sprint.

@Mrslarge24

I do see some kids out playing in the evenings but do find more are keeping them in where they're safe now. Kids aren't being allowed out to play until much older now, my 10 yr old isn't yet but I think I would let him go to our very local play area if some of his friends would also be allowed!
I know they're all different but some people do seem to think there are paedophiles on every corner now 🙈

Sorry I can't double quote apparently.

Most of the parents I know who don't like their children playing outside are more concerned about traffic, rather than other dangers.

Interesting that the number of children killed as pedestrians in car accidents has declined steeply over the years. This is not only due to speed limits/road safety, but also because so few walk to school or anywhere compared to previous generations. Definitely affects fitness.

'200m is a tricky distance'
'200m is a long distance' etc
'Its poverty'

Phrases like this are exactly why kids are so unfit. Stop making excuses and normalising unhealthy performances.

Hi. Runner here, typically long distance, but I do sessions on a track. I also have primary aged DC who attend their school's running club.

I've got to agree with others above that say that most children not used to racing but told to run hard will misjudge the pacing for 200m. For an all-out run, it's very hard to sustain full-pelt for little legs. It's a longer distance than you think (for a sprint). Most will set out far too fast and lose speed quickly. Good pacing takes practice.

However, I also agree that I think due to our current lifestyles, many people, not just children, are leading less active, less healthy lifestyles than previous decades certainly.

It’s absolutely disgusting and parents should be utterly ashamed of themselves. When I was a kid in the early 90s, unfit, unhealthy kids and adults were few and far between. A total contrast to today.

ipads, computers, gaming, social media. Lazy sedentary lifestyles, fast food.

We’re killing ourselves with comfort.

Phrases like this are exactly why kids are so unfit. Stop making excuses and normalising unhealthy performances.

I don’t think acknowledging that poverty impacts health is making an excuse or normalising ill health?

I think a lot of posters are missing the point / making excuses. Any child should be able to run 200m. They won't all come first obviously, but it's a normal distance that 50 years ago would pose no problems for 99% of children.

It was my reception aged child's sports day this week and I was horrified to be honest. One of the reasons we chose the school was that the grounds are massive. So loads of opportunities for outside play. My DC will never be sporty, and didn't win a single race, but whilst on the slower side could complete all of the races without looking like it was particularly difficult.

But it was as you went up the school I could not believe the size of a lot of these children. Probably starting around Y4 but by Y6 there were 5-6 in a class of 30 that were significantly obese, and many more visibly overweight. I have no idea who the parents are, so I can't comment on their size.

When I was a kid (36 years ago) there were children with extra "puppy fat" as a bit of chub was known then (I was prob one of them) but I can't remember a single really fat child.

We can make all the excuses we like on here but I found it really upsetting to see. It's not the children's fault, the parents should be ashamed (obviously barring SEN / additional needs which I don't for a second believe that all of these children have.)

Fewer children.

Sorry. As you were

Poor literacy is a key indicator of the people who end up in poor jobs, earn poor incomes, have poor health outcomes, live in poor quality housing, are more likely to end up in prison etc.

PE primary school pupils in the 70s.

I have never been able to climb a rope.

Literacy levels and life expectancy

https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/literacy-and-life-expectancy/

My Yr10 dd was on a geography trip this week and ended up carrying all the equipment up the hill because others were struggling. All but her were puffing and panting by the time they got up to the top. Even the teacher commented on how fit she was….it was one hill 🤣

It’s awful. My dc were fit as fleas at that age. Children should be able to play out.

I don't think this is fair - if you read my whole comment you would see that I was saying that 200m is difficult for pacing, especially for children who aren't used to it. My child who regularly runs 2000m would find it hard to complete the 200m without walking as it looks like a sprint so they go off too fast and run out of puff.

It's disingenuous to say that I was making excuses for unhealthy children when I specifically said that parents should act if a child is overweight/unfit.

At that age, especially if they don’t do it often, plenty of kids will have no idea how to pace themselves. At least some would easily be able to run 200m if they set off at a sensible pace, rather than going all out.

I'd have zero interest in the sports you mention. I last cycled as a teenager and I would hate martial arts. Not everyone is the same as you. I've tried fitness type classes but I am totally uncoordinated and I don't enjoy it. DC1 and DC3 go to the gym. DC2 walks everywhere.

I can agree that it's unbelievable that a healthy child can't run 200m.

I was in primary school in the 60s/70s and I never climbed a rope, not was I ever asked to. The climbing bars were enough of a killer for me!

In secondary school, we had 2 periods of games a week, hockey in winter, netball/tennis in the summer. I hated it. I also hated PE, think we had one period a week of that.

Swimming was a non-negotiable skill to attain in our house.

Good for you. I am the same. DH and I are both runners and there is no way we are having lazy kids. We don’t expect them to perform, and we don’t talk about weight/image but we stress the importance of being healthy and strong. We are screen free and do a family meal planner.
It really isn’t hard. And yes, we both work FT.

When I went to my ds's sports day last year and he was in yr5, I didn't recognise some of the children because they had put on so much weight.
I've known them since nursery school and I was genuinely shocked at how much they'd changed and how overweight some of them had got. It was really sad.

Judgy much?! I gave my children packed lunches because they were coming home saying they'd had boiled potatoes and gravy for their lunch because they didn't like whatever was on offer. It was a waste of money and not exactly nutritious.

What is inherently wrong with children being in wraparound care? Most families need two parents working to pay the bills and the mortgage. What do you propose??

Our three were always dropped off/picked up by car because, guess what, we had to drive onwards to a job of work to pay the bills and the mortgage!!

I battled throughout my eldest's childhood trying to keep her weight down. It got more difficult when I had less control when she was a teenager. She's been finally diagnosed in her late 20s with PCOS. We were always going to be fighting a battle, but you would have looked down your nose at her and judged her.

I would suggest the daily mile. But also, it may not be as bad as you think. Mark out 200m and try and sprint it. Your average active adult will be wtf puff puff walking by half way because they haven’t paced. Many kids who don’t know how to run do the same. My 5yo won his class 400m by literally about 80m and a lot of that I think was he knows how to run it.

Playing out and walking to school are both so so important. My 8 year old walks to school most days (with me or another adult). It involves quite a steep hill and is about half a mile. He much prefers it to driving and gets cross if we have to drive. It helps that a little gang of kids all walk, but I think kids are naturally inclined to want to be active outdoors. My DS does a fair bit of sport, but I think he gets his most activity in by just playing out. I put my watch on him today when he went to the park so he'd know when to come home and he did 4000 steps in an hour. For contrast, I'd only managed 3000 all day at my sedentary job.

When kids play out they run, jump, climb, dig, slide, hop - they use all of their muscle groups. I think they get more from that than any other form of exercise

I was a kid in the 90s where when I collapsed the teachers would yell and berate me to 'just get up and run through it' and 'you can't do it because your unhealthy, it'll get easier if you push through'.

I have bronco-spasm asthma (not what people 'think' asthma is... it doesn't respond to inhalers, doesn't come with 'coughing', only happens with aerobic activity) my aunt died of it and my very fit professional athlete cousin also has it and has to be very careful of cardiac output.

Non of us can run/swim/climb and its nothing to do with lifestyle or being unhealthy. No one would tell people to just 'get over' anaphylaxis but its the same basic mechanism and the ignorance people have can be astounding.