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AhealthycountryTherearesomeworryinghealthtrendsthatarewell-knownandrelevanttosport.MoreAustralianchildrenarebecomingoverweight.AroundoneinfourAustralianchildrenareoverweightorobese.16Wecannotignorethisandassumekidswillgrowoutofit.Moreunhealthykidsmeanmoreunhealthyadults.JustasconcerningAustraliaskidsarebecominglesscoordinatedcomparedtoearliergenerationsandtheirinternationalpeers.17Fundamentalmovementskillstheabilitytorunthrowcatchkickandjumpformthefoundationformanyofthespecicmotorskillsrequiredinpopularsportsandleisureactivitiesthroughoutlife.Sadlyourkidsarenotdevelopingtheseskillsandweseeanurgentneedtoimprovethephysicalliteracyofschool-agedchildrenAustralia-wide.Anotherconcernisthatmanykidsarenotstayinginsportoncetheyentertheirteenageyearswithadramaticreductioninparticipationratesoforganisedandclub-basedsportbetweentheagesof13and20.18IndeedtheAustralianBureauofStatistics201112NationalHealthSurveyfoundthatonlyone-thirdofchildrenandonein10youngpeopleachievedtherecommendedlevelsofphysicalactivityeveryday.AdultAustraliansarealsoleadingincreasinglysedentarylifestyles.Almost70percentareeithersedentaryorhavelowlevelsofphysicalactivity.19ANDOFCHILDRENONEIN10YOUNGPEOPLEUNDERTOOKTHERECOMMENDEDOFPHYSICALACTIVITYEVERYDAYONLYAREEITHERSEDENTARYORHAVELOWLEVELSOFPHYSICALACTIVITYALMOST70OFAUSTRALIANADULTSAPPROXIMATELY12MILLIONADULTSThisdoesnotbodewellforourkidsgiventhestrongcorrelationbetweentheactivitylevelsofparentsandtheirchildren.Recentanalysisrevealed23percentofboysand31percentofgirlsaged12hadborderlineorelevatedinsulinresistance.Twentypercentofboysand16percentofgirlshadelevatedbloodcholesterollevels.Botharehighriskfactorsforcardiovasculardiseaseandtype2diabetesandtendtotrackintoadultlife.20