Despite our proud sporting heritage, millions of children are growing up without the physical activity they need to be healthy, confident, and ready to learn. In primary school classrooms today, one in two children are failing to meet basic activity levels.
Instead, growing numbers of children under the age of 11 are swapping outdoor play and activity for screens, at the expense of their physical, social, and emotional development. At ages 8 to 9, children are now spending around two hours a day online, rising to three hours among older primary school pupils.
But despite the unfolding consequences for children’s health, wellbeing, and attainment, government policy has not kept pace, even as other countries speed ahead. It is time to tackle the inactivity crisis and put England’s young people back on a path to a healthier and more productive future.
Inactive Nation makes a range of recommendations to open opportunities for activity, but at its core it calls on the Government to embed physical activity at the heart of the education system through the introduction of a School Activity Standard.
English children more likely to own a phone than be “able to throw a ball”, warns new report
