Olympian Jane Flemming in push to make kids stand in class

UPDATE: PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he has a standing desk, but he thinks a plan by Olympian Jane Flemming for students to stand in lessons might not work.

Mont Albert Primary School students Luke Cariss-Brett, Flynn Parker, Ava Dunstan and Ruby Greenwood. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

UPDATE: PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he has a standing desk, but thinks a plan for children to stand in classrooms might not work.

Olympian Jane Flemming says schoolkids should have to stand up in half their lessons to battle the bulge.

She is also campaigning to move drop-off zones further from the school gates to entice children to walk more.

The former heptathlete and long jumper says obesity has reached crisis point.

One in four Australian children aged two to 17 is now overweight or obese.

“I would love to see legislation that requires every second school lesson to be at a stand-up desk, and for safe drop off zones for schools to be further from the gate,” Flemming told the Herald Sun.

Related: Australia’s weight epidemic

“It would be really simple legislation to do something like that and an easy fix.

“It is about incidental activity and getting people off their butts.”

“The biggest decline in physical activity occurs the day someone starts school,” Flemming, who will discuss obesity at the Australian Medical Association’s national conference on Sunday, added.

Using a stand-up desk like Flynn Parker and Rebecca Sietzman De Vries can burn 38 kilocalories more per lesson. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“Sitting is just a shocker for brain function and physical health.

“When I was at school the fat kid was considered the stand out whereas now they are the norm.”

Regarding drop-off zones, Flemming said: “It’s trying to encourage people to move more. People need to get into the habit of using their legs in the form of transport.”

Flemming competed at two Olympics and won two gold medals at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, in long jump and the heptathlon, in which she scored a record total.

More: Brains may fail to detect when obese people full

She has since founded free Live Life Get Active fitness classes.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he has a standing desk, but he’s not sure that it would work in classrooms.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say sitting is the new smoking — but the more you can stand the better,” he told 3AW.

“I know some people are advocating, I think Jane Fleming was saying that kids should take classes standing up, I’ll consult my daughter Daisy on that at — I’m not sure whether the fidgeting factor would affect that.

“I think we should let the school teachers run their own classes, don’t you.”

Australian Medical Association president Dr Michael Gannon said there was no “silver bullet” to beat obesity.

“There is no question that obesity is the public health crisis of our time,” he said.

“In so many ways it has taken over from tobacco as the number one driver of chronic health problems.”

The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute probed the benefits of height-adjustable desks with a trial at Mont Albert Primary School in 2014.

Students reported better concentration, and although there was no change in their “weight status” the school now uses a mix of desks.

But a later Deakin University trial at two high schools found students who had height-adjustable desks cut their class time spent sitting by 40 per cent.

Jane Flemming and her pet dog ‘Buddy’.

They also expended 38 kilocalories more per lesson — enough to prevent 5kg in weight gain over a year.

The institute’s head of physical activity research, Prof David Dunstan, said reducing the time children spent sitting had health benefits.

“The movement from sitting to standing throughout the day is likely to lead to increased blood flow,” he said.

“We are becoming more aware that too much sitting is not good for health.

“I support where Jane is going but it is going to be very difficult to legislate this. Giving (kids) the classroom environment where they have a choice is likely to lead to more sustainable change.”

Almost three years after the study, Mont Albert Primary School has a mix of standing and sitting desks in its senior classrooms.

“We still have some students who use the stand up desks every day and some of the staff choose to stand more because of the study,” principal Jason Walker said.

“The students themselves know how they work and learn best. I imagine what they do in the classroom is exactly what they do with their homework at home.”

Victorian public schools must ensure students reach minimum amounts of physical and sport education — between 20 minutes a day and three hours a week, depending on age.

An Education Department spokeswoman did not comment on Flemming’s calls, but said it took “children’s health seriously”.

Free Live Life Get Active sessions are jointly run with Frasers Property Australia near their estates, with six locations across Victoria, including Carlton Gardens, Waterfront Park, Fawkner Park,

Saltwater Reserve Park, Interpretive Reserve and Merri Creek Park.

The fitness classes also run near Frasers’ estates across the country.

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@moniquehore