FITeens Toolkit

18 decreased the need and desire for children and adolescents to participate in physical activity. The study by van Sluijs et al. (2021) based on 1.6 million adolescents across 146 countries found that 81% did not meet current physical activity recommendations – including 77.6% of boys and 84.7% of girls. It is important to note that participation in physical activity decreases with age, and the decline is greater in girls than boys. Adolescence has generally been considered as a healthy period in an individual’s life. However, many non-communicable diseases that manifest later in life may be partly the result of modifiable risk behaviours established during the adolescence, such as tobacco use, unhealthy eating, and low levels of physical activity (Sawyer et al., 2012). There is a large body of evidence that regular participation in different types of physical activity is associated with beneficial effects on body composition, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, aerobic fitness, muscular strength, movement skills, and bone health (Poitras et al., 2016). Regular physical activity can also improve cognitive functioning, academic performance as well as promote feelings of wellbeing in children and adolescents. In addition, physical activity has shown reducing effects to the risk of experiencing depression and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents (Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee, 2018). In terms of the association between social support from significant others (e.g., parents, peers, and teachers) and physical activity of children and adolescents, the research shows that social support from family and peers is positively associated with physical activity in early and late adolescence. However, peers and friends become increasingly influential compared with adults (i.e., parents and teachers) during the