Sportz Village Foundation’s Annual Health Survey for public schools seeks to understand the health and fitness levels of Indian children studying within the public-school system.
The survey collected information from 57,314 children across 422 schools. Its findings indicate that many children in public schools display poor fitness levels and, in several areas, fare worse than children studying in private schools.
The survey assessed children across important fitness and health parameters, including Body Mass Index, aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, core strength, flexibility, lower body strength and upper body strength.
The findings show:
Body Mass Index, or BMI, is calculated using an individual’s weight and height. It is used to understand whether a person falls within a healthy weight range.
Aerobic capacity refers to the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to the muscles during physical activity.
Anaerobic capacity refers to the energy used during high-intensity, short-duration activities such as sprinting.
Core strength relates to the muscles of the torso and plays an important role in posture, balance and stability.
Flexibility is the ability of the joints to move freely.
Lower body strength includes the strength of muscles in the legs, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, hip flexors and calves.
Upper body strength includes the muscles of the chest, upper back, shoulders, triceps and biceps.
The survey found that 45% of girls had healthy BMI scores, compared with 40% of boys.
Girls also showed stronger results in some fitness parameters:
Boys performed better in aerobic capacity:
Both girls and boys showed the same level of healthy lower body strength, with 37% in each group.
The survey also highlighted differences in health and fitness between children studying in public schools and those studying in private schools.
Children from private schools showed stronger results in certain parameters:
The report notes that poor nutrition and diet may be contributing factors behind lower upper body strength and core strength among public-school children.
It also highlights that the lack of a structured sports education programme in public schools can affect the overall health and fitness of children.
At the same time, public-school children performed better in some areas of endurance and flexibility. This may be because many children from rural and semi-rural communities tend to be more active and mobile in their everyday lives.
After implementing structured sports programmes in public schools with support from state governments and CSR donors, Sportz Village Foundation observed improvements not only in health and fitness, but also in children’s broader social-emotional development.
The programmes contributed to:
When the COVID-19 pandemic led to school shutdowns, physical sports programmes had to be paused. To address this, Sportz Village Foundation implemented a digital sports programme that allowed children to participate safely from home.
Data from the digital programme conducted in partnership with Bata India showed:
The survey reinforces that children from lower-income communities often face greater health and fitness challenges because they may lack access to adequate nutrition and structured physical activity in schools and communities.
However, the findings also show that structured physical education programmes can improve children’s fitness, health, mental wellbeing and emotional capabilities, irrespective of their socio-economic background.
“Although the health and fitness levels of Indian children across social segments is below par, children from lower-income groups have fared relatively worse. Chiefly because, many of these children lack good nutrition and that, they don’t have ready access to structured physical activity in their schools and communities.”
— Parminder Gill, Co-founder and Head, Sportz Village Foundation
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