Mary Kom, Sunil Chhetri urge for a sports-friendly India

Six-time world champion boxer MC Mary Kom and captain of national football team Sunil Chhetri urged the nation to engage themselves in sports as, “Sport and fitness activities are important for your wellbeing, no matter how old you are. In fact, it boosts brain power as you age.

In a recent report it was revealed that kids and adults in the country lack the motivation to participate in sports and physical activities.

The report formulated by PUMA India and analytics firm Nielsen Sports reveals that the lack of inspiration to pursue sport and fitness as a lifestyle was attributed to a lack of time by the respondents. Both kids and adults listed this as the primary barrier to participating in sports and physical activities, followed by other challenges such as lack of facilities and high cost.

The report also indicated that kids in India surprisingly spend only 86 minutes on physical activities in a week on average which is less than the adults of the country who average 101 minutes on a weekly basis.

Voicing her thoughts on the findings of the report and PUMA’s ‘Let There Be Sport’ campaign Mary Kom said, Given the hectic lives we lead, I feel sports must be a part of our daily regime. I persuade and encourage every Indian to work out or play at least one sport a day to keep fit. I will work closely with PUMA on this new campaign and will do everything in my capacity to support the cause of sport.

The report discovered that adults with high sports participation are likely to exhibit more positive emotions than adults in general by 21% and a direct correlation was found between low sports participants and poor emotional well-being.