Statistics on Obesity, PA & Diet: England, Jan 08 i Compiled by Sally Cornfield on behalf of PAN-WM Headline Findings

PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs) In % of boys & 59% of girls achieved the current PA recommendations (1hr a day) ii. (Figure 1) The HSE records activities that children ‘chose’ to do i.e. out-of- school PA, sports & exercise, active play & walking. Also housework & gardening is included for children aged 8 & over. (See Appendix A) A further 15% of boys & 19% of girls participated in PA for at least 30 but less than 60 minutes on 7 days in the week. Low levels of PA (less than 30 mins or not at all) were reported by 15% of boys and 22% of girls. (Figure 1) For girls, high levels of PA declined from age 8 onwards, while boys levels remained similar across the age groups. (Figures 2 & 3)

Figure 1 Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at: %20final.pdf Children’s PA levels by gender, 2006

Figures 2 & 3 Health Survey for England The Information Centre, Available at:

Trend data from 2002 iii – 2006 ii reveal that PA levels have remained similar. (Figure 4) In % of boys & girls reported doing some type of PA on at least one day in the past week ii. 95% of boys & 92% of girls reported participation in some activity on 5 or more dates in the last week ii. The most common PA for boys (at least once in the previous week) was active play (93%) followed by walking (90%). 70% participating in active play on 5 or more days followed by walking (65%) ii. (Figure 5) 22% of boys took part in sport & exercise on 5 or more days but only 4% (8yrs+) participated in housework or gardening ii. (Figure 5) PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs)

Figure 4 Health Survey for England The Information Centre, Available at: The Health Survey for England The Department of Health, Available at: onsStatistics/DH_ onsStatistics/DH_ Boys 2002 Boys 2006 Girls 2002 Girls 2006

Figure 5 Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at: %20final.pdf Children’s participation on or more days in the last week in different activities by gender, 2006

For girls walking was the most common PA with 91% walking (at least once in the previous week) & 63% walking on at least 5 days in the last week ii. (Figure 5) Only 14% of girls took part in sport & exercise on 5 or more days but 59% participated in active play on the same number of occasions ii. (Figure 5) 6% of girls (8yrs+) participated in housework or gardening on 5 or more days ii. (Figure 5) Parental PA levels are associated with children’s PA levels. In households where parental PA participation is high, children in all age & gender groups report higher PA levels than children in households where only one parent had high PA levels ii. (Figure 6 & 7) PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs)

Figures 6 & 7 Health Survey for England The Information Centre, Available at:

Generally a greater proportion of children of fathers with low PA levels had either medium or low PA levels compared with children of fathers with high PA levels ii. (Figures 6 & 7) Almost half (47%) of girls aged 11-15yrs whose fathers had low activity levels has had low PA levels ii. (Figure 7) The same association was found between children's and mothers’ activity levels with the difference most pronounced in girls 11-15yrs (35%) ii. (Figure 7) Equivalised household income has little if any effect on the level of a child’s participation in PA. However patterns for sport & exercise & equivalised household did emerge. (Figure 8) PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs)

Figure 8 Health Survey for England The Information Centre, Available at:

Participation in sport & exercise on at least one day in the week increased with equivalised household income for boys aged 2-10 & girls in both the 2-10yrs & 11-15yrs group. (Figure 8) Among boys aged 11-15yrs there was a similar pattern with lower participation among those in the lowest two quintiles than in the upper three. (Figure 8) Among boys the proportion doing 60 or more minutes of PA on all 7 days ranged from 76% in the East Midlands to 66% in London & the East of England. (Figure 9) Among girls, 65% in the North East were meeting the hour a day recommendation, compared to 52% in London. (Figure 9) PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs)

Figure % 29.7% 9.2% 3.5% 8.7% Health Survey for England The Information Centre, Available at:

74% of boys & 63% of girls from Scotland iv reported meeting the PA recommendation compared to 70% of boys and 61% of girls in England iii. (Figure 10) The School Sport Survey shows that in 2006/07 86% of pupils in partnership schools participated in at least two hours of high quality PE & School Sport in a typical week v. (Figure 11) This compares to 62% in 2003/04, 69% in 2004/05 & 80% in 2005/06 v. 91% of pupils in primary school, 80% in secondary school & 88% in special school reported participated in at least two hours of high quality PE & School Sport in a typical week v. Year 1 has seen the largest increase from 51% in 2004/05 to 87% in 2006/07 v. PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs)

Figure 10 Proportion meeting the current PA recommendations, England & Scotland by gender Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at: %20final.pdf

Figure 11 Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at: %20final.pdf Pupils who participated in at least 2hrs of high quality PE & school sport in a typical week, by school type, 2004/05 to 2006/07

PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs) The School Sport Survey shows that pupils spent an average of almost 2hrs in a typical week (115minutes) on curriculum PE v. Year 7 spent the most time (126 minutes) in curriculum PE and Year 11 spent the least time (94 minutes) v. (Figure 12) Pupils in special schools spent the most time taking part in curriculum PE (133 minutes) compared to primary schools (117 minutes) & secondary schools (112 minutes) v. (Figure 13) Curriculum time is important to support high PA levels for children as overall 70% of all children achieved the target the curriculum time alone in 2006/07 v. (61% in 2005/06 v ). (Figure 14) Year 7 have the highest proportion achieving the target through curriculum time alone 84%, while years 10 & 11 report the lowest proportion through curriculum time alone (38% & 35% respectively) v. (Figure 14)

Figure 12 The 2006/07 School Sport Survey. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, Available at: global.com/schoolsports2007/DownloadableDocuments/ %20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdfhttps://dservuk.tns- global.com/schoolsports2007/DownloadableDocuments/ %20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdf

Figure 13 The 2006/07 School Sport Survey. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, Available at: global.com/schoolsports2007/DownloadableDocuments/ %20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdfhttps://dservuk.tns- global.com/schoolsports2007/DownloadableDocuments/ %20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdf

Figure 14 Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at: %20final.pdf How 2hrs PE & school sport is achieved by year group, 2006/07

PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs) In 2006 just over half (52%) of trips to school by children 5-10yrs were made on foot, similar to the proportion in 1995/97 (53%) vi. While the proportion travelling to school by foot is lower among older children aged (41%) the levels among this age groups has also remained similar since 1995/97 (42%) vi. Walking is the most popular mode of transport to school for children aged 5-16yrs (2006) vi. (Figure 15)

Figure 15 Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at: %20final.pdf Trips to school for children aged 5-16 by mode of transport, 2006

Appendix A Sports and exercise included physical activities such as swimming, football, tennis, gymnastics and covered more organised structured sporting activities. Active play included activities such as riding a bike, kicking a ball around, running about, playing active games and jumping around. Information on walking was collected for those children who had done any continuous walks of at least 5 minutes duration. Housework and gardening was collected for those children aged 8 and over and included activities that involved pulling or pushing and lasted at least 15 minutes, such as vacuuming or cleaning a car.

References i Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at: ii Health Survey for England The Information Centre, Available at: iii The Health Survey for England The Department of Health, Available at: iv The Scottish Health Service Scottish Executive Health Department, 2005 Available at: v The 2006/07 School Sport Survey. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, Available at: 07%20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdf vi Transport Statistics Bulletin. National Travel Survey: Department for Transport, Available at: mainresults/nts2006/