A poll commissioned by the government's Schools Department has revealed the extent of inactivity amongst five to 19 year olds. The results, published last week, show that 23 per cent of children and young people participate in no organised sport whatsoever, with that figure rising to 58 per cent among 16 to 19 year olds.
The results are something of an embarrassment for the government, coming two years on from its pledge to get all young people doing five hours of sport a week. They also give further ammunition to those who argue that deep-rooted change is needed if Britain is to get more young people active and limit the extent of an impending obesity crisis.
Schools Minister Ian Wright said that the design of the poll could have distorted the results. Mori (which carried out the poll) asked respondents how much organised sport they had taken part in during the previous seven days. Wright claimed this could have led to anomalous results due to 'one-off timetable changes or absences'. This is a somewhat unconvincing explanation given that the poll was carried out over the whole of 2008 and included some 12,000 children - more than enough to smooth out any anomalies.
In reality, the results are the product of PE and competitive sport being long undervalued in the curriculum, too little collaboration between schools and clubs and a lack of creative thinking when it comes to engaging young people in sport. Unless or until the government starts focusing its attention on these essentials of a strong sporting culture, rather than cringe worthy nanny-state adverts telling us not to sit on the couch stuffing our faces, then this sorry state of affairs will continue.
The full findings of the poll can be viewed at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR135(R).pdf
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Well the high inactivity figure amongst the 16-19 year olds doesn't surprise me that much to be honest.
ReplyDeleteI stayed on at school until 18 but skived off from sports whenever I could preferring to play snooker or pinball or new exciting video games such as 'space invaders' ;)
Nowadays the increased sophistication and addictiveness of computer games must be a serious competitor to outdoor pursuits, not to all kids but I bet to the majority.
But it would be good (and somewhat ironic) if xoolon harnesses technology to counter this trend...online communities can be very strong and loyal and great fun (I know because I'm an online gamer and the community factor is most important in this).
Gaming is no substitute for outdoor fun though and the feel-good highs you get from being physically active in sport is far, far greater than any buzz you can get from being sat in front of a screen.
Kevin, I think you make some good points there. Unfortunately, I think too many people see computer games (or entertainment technology in general) and a healthy lifestyle as totally incompatible. In fact, if we could tap into this technolgy and create an online sporting community with the kind of strength that you mention, it is potentially a great way to get more young people involved. I am intending to write a blog on this issue in more detail soon, so check back to see what you make of some of our ideas.
ReplyDeleteOK :)
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