Vice Minister of Culture and Sports Sarsen Kuranbek met with the National Coordinator of the WHO Country Office in Kazakhstan, Laura Utemisova. The parties discussed measures to improve the health of children and adolescents, El.kz reports with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
A wide range of topics was discussed at the meeting: the problem of childhood obesity and sedentary lifestyle, proper nutrition, injuries, distribution of physical activity, etc.
The parties noted that the promotion of physical culture and sports among the younger generation should be a priority, but it is necessary to distinguish between these two concepts and introduce a national standard for sports training.
"Children go to school from a certain age, so we need to establish the same uniform standard for some sports, which takes into account the physiological and psychological characteristics of children and their readiness for physical activity. If a child starts playing certain sports too early, it can harm his physical or mental health. Especially when it comes to martial arts. Together with experts from WHO, we would like to develop such a standard," said Vice Minister of Culture and Sports Sarsen Kuranbek.
In turn, Laura Utemisova reported on the readiness of WHO to advise the Kazakh side on the issue of age restrictions in sports with high trauma.
"We have a department dedicated to physical activity. In particular, we have experts from Portugal who conduct similar studies. In addition, we are ready to study and analyze the best practices of other countries in this matter for Kazakhstan," said the national coordinator of the WHO office in Kazakhstan.