Campus talk: Mumbai schools, parents unite to get children moving and beat obesity

Indian Express

22-04-2025

In an innovative move to promote better physical health among the young generation, schools in Mumbai are encouraging parents to participate in the #MoveForHealth campaign. This initiative, launched by the Early Childhood Association (ECA) and the Association for Preparatory Education and Research (APER), aims to combat the increasingly sedentary lifestyles and the rising concern of obesity among children.
As part of this campaign, parents are encouraged to have their children engage in physical activity for at least 10 minutes every hour from 9 am to 8 pm. Activities can include walking, running, jumping, or any other form of movement. Research has shown that prioritizing physical activity, outdoor play, and a healthy lifestyle can help children develop good habits and lower the risk of negative health outcomes.
Schools that are members of these associations believe that implementing smaller interventions can lead to a significant difference instead of making large lifestyle changes all at once.
The president of ECA and APER, Swati Popat Vats, said, 'With #MoveForHealth campaign, the idea is to make movement an integral part of children's lives with small interventions through fun activities. By participating in this campaign, schools and parents will be including a significant physical activity in children's daily lives.'
ECA and APER, having combined 48,000 educators as their members across India, had floated a survey among over 10,000 parents from schools in metro cities, such as Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, to gauge children's outdoor and physical activity habits.
As per the findings of this three-month-long survey, 63 per cent of children engage in less than 1 hour of physical activity per day, whereas 28 per cent have no physical activity or outdoor play in their routine. While 67 per cent have no motivation or prefer a sedentary lifestyle due to screens or other reasons, 45 per cent of children are overweight or significantly above average weight.
Dr Vats said, 'During the survey, many parents shared that children use their free time on screens, leading to a sedentary lifestyle. Many parents also shared that their children preferred to be in 'temperature controlled' areas and did not like to 'sweat'. This survey is an eye opener and we urge schools and parents to help bring about change and make movement a 'fun' activity instead of a 'forced' activity so that children embrace it willingly.'
The survey, which sounded alarming concerns over the lack of physical activities among young children, led to the campaign.
Sangeeta Puri, principal of Children's Academy school, who is participating in the campaign, said, 'These small initiatives make a real difference. For example, in our school, we provide a timetable to students on what to bring every day in the tiffin, which is decided to ensure that children get a balanced and healthy meal. Now that school has a rule on this, children do not fight with parents for not wanting to eat healthy food.'