[speakeasy]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/05/...t=20140528

Quote:

If you think that teenagers are becoming weaklings, you're right.

Less than half of youths ages 12 to 15 are even close to being aerobically fit, according to data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's down from 52 percent of youths in 1999 to 2000, the last time this survey was conducted. It measures "adequate" levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, which children need not only for sports but for good health.

And that was true regardless of a child's race and family income.

Girls were particularly out of shape, with just 34 percent of them having adequate cardiovascular health, compared to 50 percent of boys. But 50 percent isn't so great.

Only 1/3rd of American girls are physically fit. That's what's coming down the pipeline.