How sports help in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Sports can teach discipline that translates into better academic achievement.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 11-08-2018 15:27 IST | Created: 11-08-2018 15:27 IST
How sports help in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Low physical activity is a global problem and, as a region, Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the worst offenders. (Image Credit: Health)

Intuitively, investing in sports and encouraging physical activity would seem to be a good idea. Without a doubt, everyone agrees that it improves the health of the population and can promote development. 

As per IDB Publication titled 'Sports for Development', sports can take children off the streets and reduce crime levels, and on the other, it can unite young people to engage in risky behavior. It can teach discipline that translates into better academic achievement, or remove teenagers from their studies with the hope of a future in sports.

Much depends on how the programs are designed, which in turn depends on having good quality data to guide decisions.  

Low physical activity is a global problem and, as a region, Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the worst offenders. The problem is particularly acute in poor countries with greater inequality, and among poor and less educated populations in each country.

There is also a marked gap in physical activity between genders: women exercise less than men, and they become even more inactive once they enter adulthood.

Physical inactivity among young people and children of school age is particularly worrisome. The panorama shows a region increasingly obese and sedentary. However, this image is incomplete and imprecise, due to the lack of reliable and comparable data.

The first step is to set the population of the region in motion to obtain more and better data on physical activity and sports participation. The available data are based mainly on self-reported information, which is limited both from a temporal and geographic point of view.

The magnitude of the challenges that lie ahead, particularly due to the increase in obese and inactive children, requires a thorough diagnosis.

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