According to Sport England’s latest Active Lives Children and Young People survey, almost 4 million children are still not physically active for at least 60 minutes each day, with activity levels in children remaining unchanged compared to 2021-22.
The Chief Medical Officers recommend that across the week, children and young people do an average of 60-plus minutes of at least moderate intensity activity a day. This effectively means they need to do at least 420 moderate minutes a week to meet the guidelines, say Sports England.
A breakdown of the survey findings for five- to-seven-year-olds reveal:
- Perceived competence (finds sport easy) has fallen compared to five years ago for children in school years 1-2.
- The number that enjoy sport and being active has remain unchanged.
The survey also finds that the number of children that can swim 25m unaided remains low, with an average of 59 per cent of all children and young people in school years 1-11 with the skill. It says that pupils are being offered fewer swimming lessons at school.
According to the findings, over half of all children and young people walk, ride or scooter to school, however two-fifths of journeys are taken by car.
The Youth Sports Trust has called for ‘urgent action’ to reverse stagnant physical activity levels in children. It also highlighted the importance of raising physical development in the early years.
