Australian children can’t run, throw, catch or jump according to a damning new report

AUSSIE kids can’t catch, sprint, kick or throw and are among the least active in the world according to a damning new report.

Australian kids are among the least active in the world. Picture: Getty Images.

AUSSIE kids can’t catch, sprint or kick and are among the least active in the world, ranking 21 out of 38 countries as screen time overtakes their lives and fuels obesity.

Fewer than one in four grade 6 kids have mastered physical milestones like catching, throwing, sprinting, jumping and side galloping says a damning new report published in the Journal Physical Activity and Health.

They have been given a D minus for meeting the one hour a day activity requirements.

And in a shock finding the report discovered children in New Zealand, Slovenia, Mexico Brazil and Botswana are much more active than Australians.

The countries given a fail in the report included China, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Scotland.

Only one in five Aussie kids do an hour of exercise a day. Picture: Getty Images.

A University of South Australia study published in the Journal Physical Activity and Health says less than 1 in 5 Australian children aged between 5 and 17 years meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day.

This is despite the fact Australia boast great sporting infrastructure like sporting fields and playgrounds.

It’s what they are doing instead of exercising that has researchers concerned.

Only around one in four kids aged 5-17 limit their screen time to less than two hours a day, it gets worse as they get older with just 14 per cent of 12-17 year olds meeting the guidelines.

Only one in four toddlers spend less than an hour a day on screens.

Only one in four kids spend less than 2 hours a day on screen time. Picture: Supplied.

On average, Aussie kids aged 5—17 years take 9,140 steps each day, with only 17 per cent reaching the 12,000 steps needed to meet the national activity guidelines of an hour a day of exercise.

The good news is almost two in three Aussie kids are involved in organised sport but fewer than half walk or ride to school.

Children need to be taught how to build more activity into their day, said researcher Dr Natasha Schranz: “It seems many Australian children and parents just don’t know how or why they need to include physical activity in their daily lives.”

Heart Foundation spokesman Prof Trevor Shilton said the results are a wake-up call and we, as a nation need to act decisively.

“We must turn around these results or face the consequences and costs of an increasingly unhealthy population,” Prof Shilton said.

The 2016 Physical Activity Report Card is part of a global network, which includes 38 countries all reporting on the physical activity levels of their nation’s children presented in Bangkok.

“The Report Card indicates that as our society has changed and there are fewer opportunities for free or unstructured play and active travel, our children have fewer opportunities to acquire the necessary skills, confidence and motivation to be physically active,” Dr Schranz said.

Families need to add unstructured play into their children's lives. Picture: Getty Images

Slovenia, which scored better than Australia measures its students fitness each year and includes lots of physical activity in schools.

In New Zealand active play was a cultural norm, kids were more active because they played in an unstructured way, Dr Schranz said.

In Zimbabwe kids had to walk everywhere and this meant they were easily able to meet the activity requirements.

Experts are calling for Australia to develop a National Physical Activity Plan to include high quality physical education in schools, build physical activity into childcare services, public education and programs to help parents reduce kids’ screen time.