Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Report 2022

The results of Sport England’s annual national Active Lives Survey for Children and Young People have been released (8th December 2022), covering the academic year 2021 – 2022. The report summarises the sport and physical activity behaviours of 5-16 year-olds in England and also provides us with some local data for the six local authorities of Northumberland and Tyne & Wear.  

We have produced a summary of the local results, which show continued progress towards increasing physical activity among our children and young people, but also that there is still the need for more work to support all children and young people to have an active lifestyle. 

Statement from Clare Morley, Chief Executive Officer at Rise: 

It is encouraging to see that in England, levels of inactivity amongst children and young people are decreasing. However, in our area of Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, the results are more difficult to compare as last year, there was insufficient data from Newcastle and Northumberland, and this year we’ve had the same issue with Gateshead. This is something that we are working hard to address by highlighting the benefits to schools of engaging in the Active Lives process and making it easier for them to participate, including the introduction of a new online hub. 

What we can see from this year’s report is that the majority of areas in Northumberland and Tyne & Wear have reduced levels of inactivity since the survey began in 2017, which is great news. 

Of course, all physical activity was affected considerably by the pandemic, but it is fantastic to see that particularly in South Tyneside and Sunderland, inactivity levels of young people has decreased in the past year, with Sunderland making an amazing reduction of over 50% (from 58.1% in 2020/21 to 26.9% in 2021/22).  

We know that due to sample sizes, figures can fluctuate, but I can’t help but be optimistic that the fantastic work being done by our team, our partners and all the other organisations dedicated to helping our children and young people to lead more active, healthy and positive lives, is having a positive impact.  

Looking ahead, there is a lot more to do to tackle the inequalities that exist between different communities in our region, which we know contribute negatively to the ability, motivation and opportunity for those communities and individuals to participate in physical activity. For example, the report shows that children from less affluent families and those from culturally diverse backgrounds continue to be among those who are less active, and we will work hard to tackle this disparity.  

At Rise, we are excited by the range of work that we have planned for the year ahead and beyond as part of our ten-year strategy. These plans include work to listen to and understand the voice of young people, investment in schools to increase physical activity, training and development opportunities for young people and influencing policy in order to change our environment to encourage active travel and physical activity in day-to-day life. 

Finally, I’d like to thank all of our partners who work with us to reduce levels of inactivity. And of course, our thanks to those schools, teachers, children and parents who take the time to complete the survey which provides us with invaluable insight to help us target our work to create more active, healthy and equitable communities.