Bandung City Government Increases School Sports Schedule to Prevent Student Obesity

The Bandung City Government (Pemkot Bandung), West Java, is preparing a programme to increase the frequency of sports activities for school pupils to three times a week as an early prevention measure against the tendency towards childhood obesity. Bandung Mayor Muhammad Farhan stated that the policy is based on the results of free health checks conducted by the Bandung City Health Department (Dinkes). “Data from the free health checks carried out by the Health Department shows that the obesity tendency rate among our schoolchildren, although still low, is growing significantly,” Farhan said in a statement received in Bandung on Wednesday. Therefore, Pemkot Bandung is preparing an additional routine sports programme for pupils with a frequency of three times a week and a minimum duration of 30 minutes per session. “We will soon launch a sports programme three times a week, each 30 minutes. Currently, it is only once a week,” Farhan said. Farhan explained that the programme will not only consist of formal physical education lessons but also include aerobic activities and various sports games to encourage pupils to be more active. To refine the programme, Pemkot Bandung is collaborating with Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in developing a concept based on sports science. According to him, this approach is important so that school sports programmes are not merely ceremonial but truly impact health and the formation of active lifestyles from an early age.