World News for Students of English

07-08-2026 07:00

A new study shows that young people in Europe are in much worse physical shape today than in past decades.

Researchers looked at health data for more than 417,000 children and teenagers from 20 European countries. They found that overall muscle strength and flexibility dropped dramatically over the last forty years. Especially after the year 2000, children became much less flexible. At the same time, body fat levels continue to grow.

Health experts explain that good physical health in childhood helps prevent serious diseases like heart problems and diabetes later in life. But more than 75% of European teenagers don’t exercise for 60 minutes every day as recommended by the World Health Organization. Experts warn that public groups must quickly encourage young people to move more.

Difficult words: decade (a period of 10 years), flxible (able to bend easily without breaking), encourage (to give someone support, confidence, or hope to do something).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.