2 of 2

Write now Article Tools

With rising levels of obesity being reported across developed nations, it's perhaps not surprising that top club sides are increasingly turning to young soccer stars from places such as Africa, Central America and South America. Consequently, in addition to relaxed rules on the number of foreign nationals that teams can employ, the number of home grown players has been declining in countries such as England and Italy.

To put the obesity epidemic into context, a health report found that "in the UK, around 27 per cent of children are now overweight and research suggests the main problem is a continual reduction in the amount of exercise children take." Of course, we can't blame this reduction in physical exercise purely at the hands (or control pads) of playstations and other games consoles. A range of factors have contributed to the decline, including the loss of parks and football pitches to new housing, scaremongering about the safety of allowing kids to go out and play in parks, and additional entertainment attractions such as visiting social networking websites or watching TV.

However, it is fair to say that kids are more likely to live out their football fantasies via computer games than they were twenty years ago. Certainly, if we go even further back, it's clear that kids have both more entertainment choices and more sports to choose from than the Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore generation that lifted the World Cup for England back in 1966.

One possible crumb of comfort is the trend towards incorporating exercise into computer games. In the past, the only exercise gamers received was to their fingers and thumbs as they frantically grappled with their joystick and mouse. However, the advent of the Wii games has seen the introduction of games where you have to interact physically in order to play your chosen sport. For example, I played the Wii tenpin bowling game recently which certainly gave a realistic workout for my bowling arm!

Looking at the bigger picture, it's reassuring to note that becoming a football star remains the dream of many kids, boys and girls these days. There is also more financial incentive to strive for a professional career and many of the clubs operate youth academies and have excellent scouting networks. If youngsters have talent and dedication, then there are undoubtedly still opportunities, even in a market that has been flooded by overseas talent. If we take the example of Britain, a lot of talk and effort has been expended in an attempt to capitalise upon the success of getting the Olympics in 2012. The government and various sports bodies have stated that they want a lasting legacy from the Games and that this should include an increased participation in sport and an improvement in the physical health of our kids. Hopefully, it is possible to reignite a passion for participating in sport as an alternative to vicariously living out the dream via a computer console.

Sources:

http://www.bbc .co.uk/health/conditions/obesi ty2.shtml

Learn more about this author, Simon Wright.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Playstation: The death of a sporting nation?
We want to hear your view. Write now!