I was in a popular discount cash and carry store the other day and was pleased to see among the various items piled up inside the seasonal offer containers, a rather nice-looking badminton set.

The product, perched there in a smart and very tempting luminous orange carrier case, sparked off some visions of imminent sun-soaked beachside afternoons, frolicking about with the kids, racquets swinging, shuttlecocks whizzing.

Just a little further on down the aisle lay some pizza bases. All we would need were a few bowls of tasty ingredients: mushrooms, rocket and a variety of cheeses perhaps.

We could spend a fun-packed evening creating designer pizzas and washing it all down with good conversation and perhaps a little wine. At about the same price, both possibilities represented some pretty solid options for a wonderful weekend with the family, but which did I choose? And which would you choose?

Here’s a hint: we’re going to talk about some statistics today and they’re not statistics we perform very well in. Our little ones are the worst affected, and it turns out our little big ones are now facing a yet bigger danger than the obesity epidemic we have spoken so much about. Now it’s all about the plight of dwindling physical fitness.

The effects of declining fitness could be dire for the next generation irrespective of whether they will sport unsightly waistlines or not.

Back in 2009, the University of Essex in the UK concluded a long-term study and found there had been an eight per cent decline in fitness levels of school-aged children over the previous 10-year period.

Obesity, or body composition, can be quickly and easily measured using the Body Mass Index equation, calculated simply by knowing someone’s weight and height. Fitness testing, on the other hand, is what we are actually able to do physically.

Fitness tests often measure cardiovascular or aerobic stamina, strength, speed, flexibility and, perhaps, secondary components of fitness like power, local muscular endurance or balance.

In the latest Essex study, researchers at the same university looked at the fitness levels of over 300 children aged 10 and 11, hoping to find out what’s been going on over the last six years.

Now it’s all about the plight of dwindling physical fitness

Authorities in the UK have invested plenty of time, effort and resources in combating the obesity epidemic and it would seem they have indeed gained some ground, only just beginning to turn the tide.

For the first time, we are seeing an actual decline in obesity rates according to children’s BMI scores. BMI scores unfortunately, however, do not tell us the full story.

While the researchers had reason to celebrate falling obesity rates, they quickly came across a yet more ominous gremlin lurking in the shadows of forecasted national health. The results of the fitness tests set some alarm bells ringing.

It turns out the fitness levels of children have now dropped another 5.7 per cent since 2009, showing that the rate of decline is actually intensifying. If the current rate of decline persists, we will lose at least another 10 per cent over the next 10 years, probably more. That’s a grand total of almost a quarter of our physical fitness lost by 2025 when compared to the 1999 data.

Losing fitness at a rate of one per cent per year means that in just half a century we could lose half of our physical capability. This all looks frighteningly dire if you ask me.

Indeed, several top universities in the US have actually proposed that, according to data about the rate of disappearance of multiple species of vertebrates on the planet of late, Earth is entering its sixth mass “extinction phase”.

This might sound a little too sensational, but the figures are real and show us that biodiversity is now being lost 114 times faster than normal at a rate unseen since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If this is what it takes for us to pull our socks up and save ourselves, then statistics like these are something we should all be talking about.

If we have the capability to ruin our environment and ecosystems and plunder the earth’s natural resources in the ways that we do, considering the vastness and immense power of nature itself, then it is clear we are also more than capable of destroying our own selves.

We’re eating the wrong foods and too much of it, we’re engaging in activities that are causing our physical capabilities to waste away, we’re inventing yet more chemicals and potions to place inside or otherwise smear all over our bodies in some form or other. What will the outcome of all this be?

Can we stop it? Yes, I believe so, and so should we all. It has been proposed in the UK that fitness testing be implemented in schools nationwide to keep as close a tab on physical fitness as is currently enforced on numeracy and literacy.

It has already been proven that we can win battles in the war against obesity. We can all encourage ourselves and each other to live healthier and more active lifestyles. It all starts from changing the little things and making the right choices not tomorrow or the day after but right now.

So what do you think I chose? The badminton racquets or the pizza bases?

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt