Coronavirus challenges highlight importance of physical activity and sport for children

The decreases in boys were originally driven by the younger age groups but over the last 12 months have been among older boys. The number of boys in Years 7-8 (ages 11-13) who are active has fallen by 8.7%, while those in Years 9-11 (ages 13-16) have fallen by 7.2%. The recent increases for girls have come from the younger age groups while the gains we saw last summer among secondary school aged girls (ages 11-16) have been maintained.  

Organised sport is a key contributor to activity levels among secondary age boys and disruption caused by the pandemic has impacted habits which are taking time to recover. Among teenage girls, it’s likely the choice of activities available suited them better. While some will have faced disruption to their organised activity, the data indicates many found more opportunities to go for a walk or do fitness activities. 

Within this, currently Asian and White Other boys are more likely to be active than Asian and White Other girls, respectively, while White British girls are more likely to be active than White British boys. 

Black boys’ activity levels continue to be severely impacted by the pandemic. Both boys and girls of a Black ethnicity saw activity levels fall in 2019-20, however, while girls have seen a recovery, boys continue to see falls.  

This is partly because Black boys get a larger proportion of their minutes of activity from activities such as team sports, that were unavailable during lockdown, but also because they are more likely to live in deprived inner-city areas and are less likely to have access to outside spaces.  

Across the year as a whole, activity levels have fallen compared to pre-pandemic (2018-19) for children and young people from the least affluent families (-3.4%), while remaining unchanged for those from the most affluent families - widening the gap between the two.

The data shows that 76% of children in Year 7 (first year of secondary school, ages 11-12) can swim 25m unaided and there’s been no reportable change in this compared to 12 months ago.  

However, swimming proficiency increases with age and an average of 58% of all children and young people in Years 1-11 (ages 5-16) can swim 25m unaided.

This is significantly down (-5.7%) on 12 months ago, driven by large drops among primary age children, indicating a potential proficiency gap in the years to come. 

While the largest increase in loneliness compared to 12 months ago have come in those feeling lonely some of the time, often/always has also seen a small increase.

As restrictions were imposed, many children and young people were unable to engage with others in the way they were accustomed to – playing sport with others for instance was not permitted, so it's unsurprising to see these increases. 

There's also a positive association between levels of engagement in sport and physical activity and levels of mental wellbeing.  

Active children and young people, and those who volunteer to support sport are shown to have higher individual development scores so, while the drops in these is likely to be a factor in the lower individual development scores reported, sport and physical activity has a key role to play in helping recover these levels.

The number of children in Years 1-2 (age 5-7) who say they love sport is down 2.7% to 55%, while the number of children who say they love being active has fallen 3.9% to 61%. The percentage of children who find sport easy has fallen 2.6% to 80%.   

There have also been falls in enjoyment, confidence, competence, understanding and knowledge for those aged between 11-16. 

This matters as 60% of young people in secondary school are active when they report 'strongly agree' with the five positive attitudes, compared to just 33% when they report no positive attitudes. 

Active children are happier, have higher levels of individual development and higher levels of community development.