Is India a sporting nation? Is there any sports
culture in our country? Hardly anybody will give positive response to these
questions. Why? Because, we are not regularly producing athletes of
international repute neither we take part in the sporting activities to make
ourselves healthy and fit! Because, most of our sporting federations are
reactive or inactive! Because, we have limited number of sports icons in most of
the sporting disciplines except cricket! Because, even today, no comprehensive
career direction is available to the young sports talents of our country! Because,
we prefer to be arm chair critics than participating in sports.
No one can ignore the above points. Our success
at the international arena of sports is still very limited. From the 1952
Helsinki Olympics to 2016 Rio Olympics, we won only 9 Gold Medals, while China won 26 Gold Medals only in 2016 Rio Olympics. This
highlights our failure of producing champions in sports. However, in my opinion,
there is the other side of the problem which needs to be discussed.
Is there any other purpose of sports apart from
winning medals? We often tend to misinterpret the objective of playing sport.
We do not see the other side of sports which is equally, or more, important.
Let us confess that we are not a sporting nation because we do not want to take
part in the sporting activities! We are only arm-chair critics, we just follow
sports. Do we participate? No! Do we want our children to participate in
sports? No! Why not? As there is no career direction available! We often opine
that our sports organisations have done nothing to promote sports as a career
option. But don’t we need fitness? Don’t we need a healthy society that can
contribute to the development of this great nation significantly? Ideally ‘yes’
and actually ‘no’, which means we say ‘yes’ and do ‘no’! Are we aware of the
fact that lack of physical activities creates physical and mental problems?
Let us see what may happen if a child does not participate in sports and
leads unhealthy life.
The first problem is obesity. What is obesity?
In simple words, obesity is a condition in which excess body fat is accumulated
to such an extent that it may affect the health adversely. According to a study
by ‘Paediatric Obesity’, an international journal, India will have over 17
million obese children by 2025 and stand second among the 184 countries where
the number of obese children will be a concern. Another study by‘Diabetes
Foundation of India’ reveals that three out of ten children of private schools in
India suffer from the problem of obesity. Obesity is the reason of various
diseases. It causes high blood pressure and high cholesterol which may increase
the possibilities of cardiovascular diseases. Obesity may cause type II
diabetes, breathing problems, sleeping problems, asthma, joint problems, fatty
lever disease etc. And what about poor self- esteem! The obese children often
suffer from inferiority complex because of the condition of their health. They often
get bullied by the other children in the class. It is unfortunate, but true!
Are we ready to destroy the lives of our children like this?
This is not the end! Have we heard of
motor-skill disorders? It is a coordination disorder, also known as motor dyspraxia,
which is often observed among children. This disorder prevents a child from
analysing and executing motor activities and as a result they suffer from
various health problems. A child, suffering from this disorder, cannot execute
movement skills properly, such as walking, running, jumping etc. They face
difficulties in using objects such as a pencil or a paper or a spoon or a cup.
They have the tendency of dropping objects as the coordination is not perfect.
Subsequently, they cannot actively take part in a number of activities,
like dancing, painting, catching, swimming etc. It may act upon their study as
well. They may face difficulty in
playing sports, but it is, important to create an environment where they can
practice the movement and coordination skills and still have fun.
Do we want our children to suffer? Do we blame
our sports federations for not doing anything and then relax? Even if the child
is suffering! No, certainly not! Let’s wake up and encourage our children to
take up sports to be fit, physically and mentally. Let’s put pressure on the
Government and schools to make sports and physical education as an integral
part of our education system and give it a structure so that the progress of
the children can be evaluated. We need a healthy and fit India, which will be
productive, efficient and full of energy. Let’s make India a sporting nation.
Let’s play sports.
