For adults, recent figures showed that activity levels were down and inactivity up; this same pattern now appears to have been repeated for schoolchildren across the county, with implications for mental as well as physical health in the short and long term.

A hidden consequence of COVID

The Chief Medical Officer advises that young people 16 and under are active for at least 60 minutes every day, which can be made up from travel, play, or sport at / outside school. 

For the 2020/21 academic year, close to a third (30.5%) of Surrey’s children were in the lowest category of ‘less active’, meaning they achieved less than 30 minutes of any sort of exercise per day - closer to the national average. Under half (46.5%) met the 60 minute guideline to be classed as ‘active’. 

Both measures were worse than the previous year which had already witnessed COVID-related disruption in the spring and summer terms and contrasted with figures for England as a whole, which were broadly stable. 

Unsurprisingly the contrast with normal, pre-COVID times is even greater. In the 2018/19 school year 53% of Surrey pupils achieved the 60 mins per day threshold, while a quarter (24.8%) were classed as less active that year.

Disruption meant disadvantage for all

Despite 2020’s initial lockdowns, informal exercise was one of the few reasons people were allowed to leave their house. The previous academic year also saw better weather, meaning families had every encouragement to get outside and do more together 

Community sport suffered considerable disruption in the period of the report. In September 2020 restrictions were reintroduced into indoor team sport, which were further tightened in January, with most activities cancelled altogether until after Easter. 

And while schools returned in September 2020, pupils were back to home working in January ‘21. Against this backdrop it’s not hard to see why young people were less active.

Why movement matters

Separate figures from the National Child Measurement programme show that at a national level, obesity rates in both reception-aged and year 6 children increased by around 4.5% between 2019-20 and 2020-21 – the highest annual rise since the study began in 2009.

And while there were obviously many other factors, the fall in activity levels coincided with a rise in mental health issues for young people, with an NHS Digital study recently reporting that rates of probable mental disorders have increased in 6-16 year olds from one in nine in 2017 to one in six. Around a third of children report problems with sleeping.   

 

Commenting on these worrying trends, Wendy Newton, Head of the Children and Young People team at Active Surrey said:

“We all know the damage that COVID has done but the knock-on impact for children is often not so obvious. You don’t have to be a health expert to know that moving less isn’t good for any of us, and many schools are telling us that they have seen a noticeable drop in pupils’ fitness levels, matched for some by a rise in behavioural problems and concentration levels.

“We must make sure that the routines young people were forced into during the pandemic don’t become the norm. Schools and parents have a role to play in getting kids more active whenever they can, whether that be in class, at play, in community clubs or by choosing walking and cycling over the car. 

“Many adults may have slipped into moving less but we can still make a change when it comes to our children’s activity habits.”

 

The view of Tom Andrews, Head of PE at the Ashcombe School in Dorking is typical of many teachers:

"...there has never been a more important time than now to educate our young people in schools about the importance of moving more. These findings are proof of this.

"Physical activity, school sport and PE play a significant role and the focus should be on integrating good habits and patterns of movement into our daily and weekly routines. The positive impact this will have on mental, social and physical well-being is part of the key to rebuilding the health of our nation."

And Lisa Phillips, Director of Sport at Coworth Flexlands Independent Prep School and Nursery in Chobham added:

"The impact of Covid has been detrimental, but it is now vital that measures are put in place to support children and families in forming positive relationships with exercise and movement.

"It is evident that active children also have higher levels of mental wellbeing. As a grassroots football coach as well as a PE teacher, I have seen first-hand how being part of organised sport can support children with the development of social and emotional wellbeing and give them a sense of belonging. Sport and activity opportunities need to be protected, supported, and promoted in schools at all costs." 

ENDS

For a summary of the national results and a link to the latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey report, visit the Sport England website