Active Lives data shows impact of pandemic on physical activity in children

Activity levels in children and young people in England which were rising both nationally and regionally before the Coronavirus pandemic hit, have now decreased according to Sport England’s latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey.

The findings which have been published today, Thursday 14 January 2021, cover the full 2019/20 academic year. In a change to previous years (and in the similar format as Active Lives Adult data released in October) Sport England has produced two reports.

The first covers the full 2019/20 academic year and, in addition to the pandemic, also includes the significant impact of the storms that were so disruptive last January and February.  The second focusses specifically on children and young people’s behaviours in the summer term as activity restarted after the first national lockdown.

Findings have revealed that the impact of the pandemic has resulted in the initial growth in physical activity participation in children and young people being stunted. The new figures show 44.9% of children and young people were ‘active’ in England (meaning they were participating in an average of 60 minutes of physical activity per day). However, 31.3% of children and young people were classed as ‘less active’ as they exercised on an average for less than 30 minutes daily. Nationally, compared to the 2018/2019 release, there has been a decrease of 1.9% in children who are active for an average of 60 minutes per day, and a significant increase of 2.4% in children who are active for less than 30 minutes per day.

Despite the changes in physical activity levels in children and young people across England, Tyne & Wear has seen little change in physical activity levels, however Northumberland has seen a significant decrease (of just over 9%) in the number of children who are ‘less active’, meaning there are more children engaging in physical activity on a daily basis.

Overall, across Northumberland and Tyne & Wear there is a greater number of active children and young people compared to the English average.

Analysis for Northumberland and Tyne & Wear is available to view here.

It’s important to note that the Children and Young People survey is still in its infancy with this release being its third, and has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, there is no local authority data included in the 2019/2020 report due to reduced response rates and inconsistences in data collection as a result of the restrictions which meant data which was unreliable and incompatible for comparison between previous releases and local authorities. However, the survey does give county level information and so for Northumberland, this does therefore also provide local authority data, but this is not available across the local authorities of the Tyne & Wear county area.

Previous releases of Active Lives Children and Young People Survey have shown the benefits of physical activity and volunteering on children and young people’s physical and mental health. This report highlights that children who regularly take part in physical activity have greater levels of mental wellbeing, trust and decreased loneliness. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many children and young people have not been able to take part or access the spaces or places where they usually engage in physically activity or volunteering, for example schools, sports clubs, playgrounds and gyms.

Gail Ballance, Strategic Lead for Children and Young People at Rise, said: “As part of our role as the active partnership for Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, we’re dedicated to helping to drive improvements in our area. We use the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey data to inform our work with our CYP partners, and to tackle the complex and challenging task of reducing inactivity to improve the lives of more children and young people across our region.

“Currently, we’re working hard to raise awareness of the relationship between physical and mental health particularly at this time of uncertainty with ongoing national restrictions and closures of gyms, leisure facilities and sports clubs, with our NE Movement campaign and I’d encourage all parents, carers, teachers and coaches of children and young people to get on board and support the message.”

Full findings from Sport England’s Active Lives Children Survey 19/20, are available here.

To download our full report statement click here.