Sport England has recently announced the results of the latest Active Lives Children & Young People Survey and there is some very good news for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.

Government guidelines recommend that children and young people should get an average of 60 minutes of physical activity a day and today the survey shows that almost half (46.8%) of children and young people in England are achieving this, a rise of 3.6% over last year.

At a local level, there has been a decrease in those who are inactive (ie. less than an average of 30 minutes a day) in both Shropshire (-8%) and Telford & Wrekin (-13.7%) and in addition Telford & Wrekin has had a statistically significant increase in those who are active (ie. more than an average of 60 minutes a day) by 15.8%.

One of the other ways this data is analysed is by the time spent being active both during and outside of school time. And across our County, 46% of children and young people are now achieving at least 30 minutes of activity during the school day (compared to an average of only 40% for England overall) suggesting there has been a real focus in our local education sector on finding ways to increase physical activity outside of normal PE lessons.

Energize chief executive Chris Child is delighted with the findings: “A whole range of organisations have contributed to these results - from local authorities to schools and community groups – it really is a whole system approach that has led to these improvements here in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and we would like to thank and congratulate all the many organisations involved. And whilst we are not complacent, these results do show signs of real progress towards the overall goal of reducing inactivity and improving lives right across our county.”  

Here is a recording of Chris speaking about Active Lives on Radio Shropshire on 18th December.



Energize_on_Radio_Shropshire_Dec_19.mp3

In addition to all the statistics, the survey also highlights the benefits of being active for children and young people and interestingly one of the key points is that the happiness levels reported by those taking part in activity compared to those volunteering were exactly the same. As we strive to further reduce inactivity to help children and young people live happy and healthy lives it is worth remembering the significant benefits volunteering can bring especially when trying to engage those who are less interested in traditional sports.

Director of Public Health for Shropshire Rachel Robinson added: “It is heartening to see the latest results and whilst there is a long way to go, clearly the collaboration of many agencies across our county is starting to have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our young people.”

Liz Noakes, Director of Public health for Telford & Wrekin echoed these sentiments but also said how delighted she was in the significant increase in those children and young people within Telford & Wrekin who are achieving the Chief Medical Officer advice to undertake an average of 60 minutes activity per day.

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For the full survey report, click here.

The annual survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Sport England, includes data from over 1900 primary and secondary schools across the Country.