The alarm is ringing louder and louder. The figures released on February 20 by Inserm confirm the trend: almost one in two adults is overweight today in France (47.3%). And obesity is still on the rise, affecting 17% of the French population, twice as much as a quarter of a century ago (8.5% in 1997). Based on a sample of nearly 10,000 people over the age of 18, the study reveals above all that the evolution of overweight is very worrying among young people. 18-24 year olds are in fact four times more numerous than in 1997 to be affected by the phenomenon.
The poor physical performance of college students
A few days earlier, another study carried out by the collective “Pour une France en forme” with 9,000 middle school students subjected to a few physical tests highlighted the poor performance of 10-12 year olds, much less alert than their peers of the years. 1980. “I repeat it often, but it is like this and you have to be aware of it: our teenagers are preparing for their infarction to come from their thirties. The pension problem will be solved”gets carried away François Carré, cardiologist and sports doctor at the University Hospital of Rennes, who for more than twenty years storms against the dangers of a society which is becoming sedentary, the digital universe and its screens contributing always more to inactivity.
“At least for young people, our study also shows that the curves can be reversed quite easily and quickly, which is positive. But you really have to get on with it”, continues François Carré. Who obviously welcomes the “30 minutes of physical activity at school” program carried out by the national education system in collaboration with the sports movement and Paris 2024, and generalized in primary classes since September 2022. But the specialist expects much more and above all “means commensurate with what is at stake. On road safety, they have been mobilized over time. On sport-health, it would take as much. We are far from it”.
Paris 2024 hopes to participate in the transformation of France into a sporting nation and the organizers of the Games often evoke their heritage. But in fact, “the brakes are powerful”notes Stéphane Diagana, former world champion in the 400m hurdles and member of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission. « Societal brake, when everything invites you to go fast, eat poorly and move less; a brake on mentalities too, with a look at sport which still needs to evolve, particularly in national education where sport is still much less considered than mathematics, for example. Unfortunately, I think that as in other areas, it will be necessary to go through forms of constraint to accelerate the movement. »
Engage students too
Sports obligations? The Jean-Monnet University of Saint-Étienne has just taken the plunge. In 2017, the establishment’s Physical and Sports Activities University Service (SUAPS) launched an “Active your form” program in collaboration with preventive medicine for students in difficulty (obesity, psychological problem, social insecurity). Classes in small groups with dietetics, cooking workshops, and a return to physical activity depending on the pathologies after individualized tests. About forty students per semester benefit from it. “On this, the Covid arrives, and adds a new problem, with all-out advice provided on the Internet by people who are not necessarily competentsays Nathalie Mathieu, the director of SUAPS. The problem is getting worse, we had to react. »
The university then decided to create a “physical activity and health” teaching unit, with 12 one-and-a-half-hour sessions. “intended to make students autonomous on these issues to have good practicessummarizes Nathalie Mathieu. 800 students are concerned this year, and within two years we will extend the system to all second-year undergraduate students. » Some rare faculties have such a teaching unit, but only optional. In Saint-Étienne, it will be compulsory for all courses. And the university, very invested in the matter, is working for the future on a sport-health project concerning this time all its staff.