In children and adolescents, physical activity promotes bone health, encourages healthy growth and development of muscle, plays an important role in the prevention of overweight / obesity and improves motor and cognitive development. Despite that 80% of adolescents do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity (PA) as per WHO report. It is logical that if such trend continues, there is an increased risk of future overweight population. Without appropriate involvement in PA, there is an increased likelihood that children will have less healthier lives than their parents. Not only physical health, there is high global prevalence of mental disorders among children and adolescents and a dramatic increase during the last decades. The rise in mental disorders is associated with both increased costs, and individual impact, including an increased risk for suicide. This is largely in agreement with available research reporting favourable longitudinal associations of cardio respiratory fitness in childhood and adolescence with lower body mass index, waist circumference, prevalence of metabolic syndrome, and better mental health, self-esteem and quality of life.

PA and diet, are the cornerstones of obesity prevention and management. Optimal nutrition in combination with regular physical activity during the growing years increases the likelihood of a healthy pattern of physical maturation. PA is beneficial at all stages during the formative years and active play is important in physical, mental and social aspects of growth and development, which helps to set a pattern of participation in active lifestyle across the lifespan. The recent WHO guideline recommends that children and adolescents aged 5–17 years should participate in at least 60 min of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day.

Some countries have developed 24-hour movement guidelines for children, which recommend limiting sedentary behaviours, such as screen time to less than 2 hours a day in addition to breaking up sitting regularly throughout the day. Television viewing has been linked with higher levels of adiposity. Yet there is mixed evidence of associations between volumes of sitting and children’s health.  As children spend most of their waking hours at home and school (70% of which is spent sitting), these have been identified as obvious targets to promote PA.

A recent longitudinal birth cohort study on Swedish general population showed that PA declines from 5 to 11 years of age. Not only that, it also provides sex-specific protective effects against the incidence of several psychiatric diseases up to the age of 18. PA at a critical age of 11 years had been found to have a protective effect on the incidence of any psychiatric disease for boys, and on depression among girls. Participation in organised sports showed strong protective effects for both girls and boys on the risk for depression, anxiety and addiction.

Hence it is the need of the hour to incorporate policy specially for government education departments and schools to adopt and implement whole-of-school programmes to promote children’s PA and reduce sitting through active pedagogy and supportive social and physical environments.