RFU welcomes report into activity levels
The RFU has welcomed the findings of Sport England’s report into the activity levels of children.
Almost half of children and young people (46.8%) in England are doing the recommended average of 60 or more minutes of physical activity a day - a rise of 3.6% over the last year.
This finding comes from Sport England’s ‘Active Lives Children and Young People’ report into the activity levels of the nation’s children and means that 3.3 million children are now meeting the new recommended Chief Medical Officer Guidelines - 279,600 more children than last year.
“We welcome the progress being made in increasing children’s activity levels, as released by Sport England today,” said RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney.
“There is still lots to do but we’re proud of the work our clubs do every week to enable around 150,000 children to engage in rugby. We’re also proud of the significant work undertaken by clubs and secondary schools as part of the All Schools programme, creating opportunities for hundreds of thousands of children in 750 schools across England to engage in Rugby Union.”
Government guidelines recommend that children and young people should get 30 minutes of their daily physical activity in the school day and 30 minutes outside of school. The figures show that there has been a rise in children getting active outside of school over the last year, with 57% (up 4.6%) doing an average of 30 minutes or more a day outside of school, compared to 40% at school.
As part of the 2016-21 Sport England strategy Towards an Active Nation, Sport England is already investing £194m in children and young people, within its remit of responsibility for sport and physical activity outside of school from the age of 5.
Activities outside of school that are on the rise include active play, team sports and walking.
Activities outside of school that are on the rise include active play, team sports and walking.
At the other end of the scale, 2.1 million children and young people (29.0%) are doing less than 30 minutes of physical activity a day, and while that number is decreasing (by 3.9% over the last year) it is a reminder of how much more needs to be done. In the middle, another 1.7 million (24.2%) children are ‘fairly active’ taking part in average of 30-59 minutes a day.
The inequalities that were surfaced by the first report last year remain, with children from the most affluent families more active (54%) compared to the least affluent families (42%) while boys are more active than girls at every age from five up.
The survey also shows that active children are happier, more resilient and more trusting of others and it has also shown a positive association between being active and higher levels of mental wellbeing, individual development and community development.
Active Lives Children and Young People provides the most comprehensive overview of the sport and physical activity habits of children in England. It looks at the number of children taking part in a wide range of sport and physical activities (ranging from dance and scooting to active play and team sports) at moderate intensity, both at school and out of school. The report is based on responses from over 130,000 children aged 5-16 in England during the academic year 2018/2019, making it the largest study of its kind.
The full Active Lives Children and Young People report is available - here
