Sport England’s annual report into activity levels amongst under 16’s in Surrey shows that almost half of young people are physically active compared to the last two years, though we still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels and stubborn inequalities remain.
Data released as part of the Children & Young People’s Active Lives survey reveals that 48.9% of Surrey’s under 16’s met the recommended 60 minutes per day guideline for movement in the last academic year. But whereas figures for England show a return to pre-pandemic levels (47.2% are active nationally), Surrey is still short of hitting its 2018/19 peak, when 53.3% of children were in the highest category.
The Chief Medical Officer recommends that young people are active for 60 minutes every day, across school and home. Young people in the county are more active than the England average, but the gap is narrowing.
Data for each borough and district is dependent on the number of schools who complete an annual survey. Based on returns submitted, Spelthorne is the highest fully active area of Surrey (54%).
Almost a return to normal – but problems remain
The pandemic had a massive negative effect on children’s ability to engage in physical activity as schools shut, playgrounds were off limits and sports clubs closed their doors. The latest school year was the first without major disruption since 2018/19 and the vital part played by school and community sport is reflected in more children meeting the recommended guideline.
At a national level boys have responded particularly well compared to the last academic year with 50% of them now active, but this has led to the re-emergence of a long standing ‘activity gap’, with the figure for girls at 45% (though secondary-aged girls performed better, and football saw an increase for girls even before the Lionesses’ Euro’s win).
Across age groups, children in Years 3 and 4 are not seeing the same sort of increase in activity witnessed in other age groups, where schools and parents have done a great job in getting children to walk, cycle, play, and engage in sport.
Alongside gender differences, ethnicity and family income continue to have a huge effect on children’s desire and capacity to be active. While 50% of white children across England are active just 41% of both black and Asian origin can say the same.
Similarly, richer households are way more likely to have children who are active: the least affluent households are 10 percentage points behind compared to richer neighbours (42% vs 52%).
With data showing a continual link between activity levels and physical and mental health outcomes, those who move less report being less happy and are likely to be at more risk of health problems in later life.
Commenting on the results, Active Surrey Managing Director Lil Duggan said: “It’s great to see the work put in by schools, sports clubs and parents to encourage children back into healthy habits is paying off. We hope that next year we’ll see further growth in the number of young people in Surrey meeting the recommended guideline for being physically active.
“The team at Active Surrey are particularly focussed on helping those young people who have the most to gain from moving more, but are sometimes the least able to access organised activities. As the cost of living squeeze deepens, we’ll continue our work to ensure all children have a chance to enjoy a healthier, happier future.”
The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey was conducted by Sport England for the 2021-22 academic year. Surrey schools returned 4194 surveys from pupils / parents.