‘Wake up call’ over youth exercise

More than a third of children and young people in Kent do less than half an hour of physical activity a day, according to new research.

The Active Lives Children and Young People survey, published by Sport England, found an estimated 80,200 children aged between five and 16 in Kent do less than 30 minutes of exercise a day on average.

A further 63,300 manage an average of at least half an hour a day, but less than an hour.

The Chief Medical Officer’s (CMO) guidelines state children should get at least an hour of physical activity every day - but 84% of five to 16-year-olds in Kent fail to hit this target.

The Active Lives Children and Young People is the largest ever survey of its kind, based on responses from more than 100,000 five to 16-year-olds during the academic year 2017-18.

Anything that raises your heart rate and makes you out of breath counts as physical activity.

Sport England CEO Tim Hollingsworth said he was calling for system-wide change and “a national focus on the health and wellbeing of our nation’s children”.

He called the report “a big wake-up call for all of us”.

He said: “Parents, schools, the sport and leisure industry and government all have a role to play. These results tell us that what is currently being done to support them is not enough and change is required. Listening to young people and what they want is the best starting point.”