American children aren't the only couch potatoes. Nearly one third of children in the world spend three hours a day or more watching TV or on computers. A study over 70,000 teenagers in 34 nations found most children didn't get enough exercise and it made no difference whether they lived in a rich or a poor country. Growing up in a poor country did not mean that kids get more physical activity.
The study did a survey of 72,845 school children aged 13 to 15 from North and South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The children were surveyed(调查_) between 2003 and 2007. In the study, children who spent at least an hour of exercise outside of gym, at least five days a week were considered to have "enough physical activity" , and children who spent three or more hours a day watching TV, playing computer games, or chatting with friends—except for time in school or time spent doing homework--were regarded as "sedentary".
The scientists found only one quarter of the boys and 15％ of the girls were getting enough exercise. A quarter of boys and nearly 30％ of girls were. sedentary and didn't get enough exercise. Girls were less active than boys in every country except Zambia. Girls from India were the most active, with 37％ of them getting enough exercise, while girls from Egypt were the least active, with just 4％ getting enough exercise.
