Gregor Starc: Generation Z is a generation of couch potatoes

Preliminary findings from Slovenia's physical education report reveal a concerning decline in the physical fitness of children and adolescents following the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicate that young people are less physically capable than they were before the pandemic, and the gap between the fittest and least fit has widened. The report also notes an increase in childhood obesity, particularly among boys.

Researchers at the SLOfit group at the Faculty of Sport in Ljubljana have long warned about the broader consequences of reduced physical activity. They emphasize that it's not just about losing strength, coordination, and endurance. Children who move less also experience deficits in attention, persistence, self-regulation, working memory, and their readiness for mental exertion.

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Perhaps part of the problem is that children are simply no longer capable of completing tasks of the same length and difficulty as pre-pandemic generations in the same amount of time, with the same persistence and the same level of focus.

Professor Gregor Starc, head of the national physical education system and a member of SLOfit, highlighted that poorer reading literacy might not solely stem from a lack of knowledge. "Perhaps part of the problem is that children are simply no longer capable of completing tasks of the same length and difficulty as pre-pandemic generations in the same amount of time, with the same persistence and the same level of focus," he stated.

Starc suggested that an additional hour of sports and arts education could offer more benefits than currently acknowledged. "Not because other subjects aren't important, but because a child first needs a body that can function, a nervous system that can endure, and internal stability that allows them to think," he explained. The findings paint a picture of a generation struggling to regain physical and, consequently, mental stamina.

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Not because other subjects aren't important, but because a child first needs a body that can function, a nervous system that can endure, and internal stability that allows them to think.