UK lags behind in race to produce Olympic stars

UK teenagers of the age group most likely to be participators at the 2012 Olympics are lagging behind teenagers from other countries in their interest in sports according to research from GfK NOP.

A new study of teenagers from 25 countries across the globe is giving an indication of each country's potential for success in the London Olympics in 2012.

The GfK NOP survey produced an index incorporating some of the critical factors for the development of young athletes, such as rates of daily participation in exercise to keep fit, interest in participating in sports and the proportion of teenagers that have ambition to become athletes.

The results show that teenagers from Canada and Australia demonstrate the highest level of commitment to fitness, sports participation and ambition for sporting careers, while UK teenagers are currently ranking at 11th place.

While the UK scored only 130 on the index, higher than the global average across all 25 countries of 100, Canada's index was 354, closely trailed by Australia at 309, Mexico at 269 and Argentina at 267.

Turkey scored the lowest with an index of only 3.

Only 28 per cent of British teenagers claimed to exercise daily, however this relatively high, coming in second place to Australia, which leads the way on 37 per cent.

In terms of producing Olympic champions, strong interest and ambition is required, and this is where UK teenagers are failing.

On interest in participating in sports, UK teenagers are 13th out of 25, and on ambition they are 16th out of 25.

This is exactly half the number of Canadian teenagers with the same ambition.

Britain is also at a disadvantage considering that its production of Olympic sports stars will always be proportionally limited by a relatively small population.

Although only 20 per cent of Chinese teenagers are interested in participating in sports, and only 6 per cent dream of becoming a famous athlete, China is still more likely to cultivate more international sports stars than the UK.

Only 15 per cent of UK teenagers currently seek information about fitness and exercise, with 33 per cent preferring to learn about electronics and technology and 23 per cent opting for information relating to fashion and beauty.

Within Western Europe, only the Spanish come out lower than British teenagers on this rating, with just 12 per cent actively seeking to improve their knowledge of fitness and exercise.

In addition to this, British teenagers top the charts in terms of alcohol consumption, with 51 per cent of teenagers over 18 regularly consuming beer, equalled only by Spain.

British teenagers also consume a worrying amount of carbonated soft drinks, with 38 per cent admitting to drinking them every day.

Within Western Europe this is topped only by Germany, where 46 per cent of teenagers consume carbonated soft drinks every day, followed closely by Spain's 35 per cent.

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