1. Childhood Physical Activity
‘Physical inactivity poses a serious and growing danger to our society- it damages our health, economy and environment, and limits the educational attainment and futures of our children’
All-Party Commission on Physical Activity, 2014
Physical education ; Moving to learn & learning to move
Miranda Ashwell, Programme Lead.
Help2Change, Shropshire Public Health

2. Physical Inactivity
Population Attributable Fraction of mortality due to physical inactivity
Contributes to almost 1 in 6 premature deaths, equal to smoking
Greater cause of death in UK than in comparable countries
Estimated £7.5 bn annual cost through NHS services, lost productivity and premature mortality of working age population

3. Guidance from 4 UK Chief Medical Officers
Global evidence of relationship between physical activity and health.
Update of existing guidance
New guidance for early years and older adults
Physical activity: any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. .
Need for up-dating to keep abreast of research evidence globally. Australia, USA and Cananda.
More flexible- easier to meet.
20% of UK adults openly admit to not exercising
14% admit to finding exercise boring
25% blame their lack of activity on bad weather
26% state they do not have enough time to exercise
34% admit they are too lazy to exercise. 
Only 17% of people are aware that they should be doing 150 minutes of physical activity per week. Meanwhile, 51% of Brits believe a minimum of 20 minutes exercise, such as brisk walking, will fulfill exercise requirements.
PA is sport, daily living, active travel , play, fun.

4. CHILDREN
World-wide children’s physical fitness is declining by 4.3 % per decade.
In England this decline is 7-9% per decade, (independent of childhood obesity)
Being unfit confers a greater health risk than being ‘fat and fit’
Need for greater awareness of ‘inactivity’

5. Sedentary behaviour is not defined simply as a lack of physical activity but is a separate behaviour in its own right.
Sedentary behaviour is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Standing up rather than sitting down results in:
Higher heart rate: 10 beats a minute higher
Greater calorie burn: 0.7 calorie difference
More effective control of blood glucose levels
50 more calories burnt per hour
In a year 3 hours extra standing equates to approx:
25-30, 000 calories
5-8lbs of fat used
Running 10 marathons

6. Physical activity among children Health Survey for England 2012
Around two in ten children aged 5-15 years meet the government recommendations* for physical activity (boys 21%, girls 16%)
Data from the Health Survey for England report, 2012, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre
The Chief Medical Officer’s report (2011) recommends that children aged 5-15 years should engage in at least 60 minutes and up to several hours physical activity per day
*Child recommendations for physical activity in CMO report 2011 – one hour moderate activity per day
HSE reports at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity on all seven days in the last week

7. Physical inactivity among children Health Survey for England 2012
Around four in ten children aged 5-15 years are physically inactive*
(boys 39%, girls 45%)
Data from the Health Survey for England report, 2012, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre
Amongst all children (5-15 year olds) 87 per cent had taken part in sport in the four weeks prior to interview, a significant decrease on the first year of data collection in 2008/09 (90%) and on 2013/14 (90%).
*Fewer than 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity on each day
or 60 minutes or more on fewer than seven days in the last week

8. Physical activity among young children Health Survey for England 2012
Around one in ten children aged 2-4 years meet the government recommendation* for physical activity (boys 9%, girls 10%)
Data from the Health Survey for England report, 2012, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre
The Chief Medical Officer’s report (2011) recommends that children aged 2 -4 years should engage in at least 180 minutes activity spread throughout the day
*At least 180 minutes (3 hours) of physical activity on all seven days in the last week

9. Through physical inactivity 91% of 2-4yr old children are missing opportunities to:

10. Trends in physical activity Children aged 2-15years; Health Survey for England 2008-2012
Levels of physical activity dropped between 2008 and 2012 for both boys and girls.
Taking Part Survey July 2015: Amongst all children (5-15 year olds) 87 per cent had taken part in sport in the four weeks prior to interview, a significant decrease on the first year of data collection in 2008/09 (90%) and on 2013/14 (90%).
Data from the Health Survey for England report, 2012, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre
Low activity: <30 minutes of MVPA on each day, or MVPA of 60+ minutes on less than seven days in the last week
Some activity: minutes of MVPA on all seven days in the last week
Meets recommendations: At least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous (MVPA) on all seven days in the last week

11. Time spent sedentary in leisure time Children aged 2-15 years; Health Survey for England 2012
Proportion of children who spent six or more hours being sedentary per day by age group
Weekdays
Weekends
Sedentary behaviour is defined as activity with very low energy expenditure, undertaken primarily sitting or lying down. Sedentary behaviours are undertaken in a range of settings, including school, home, travel, and in leisure time, and include screen-time (watching television, computer use, video games), motorised transport, and sitting to read, talk, do homework, or listen to music.
On weekdays, fewer than 10% of children under 10 are sedentary for six hours or more. The proportion of children aged years is much higher at 24% for boys and 16% for girls. At weekends, there is a steady increase from the youngest age group (around 10%) to the oldest (43% of boys and 37% of girls).
Data from the Health Survey for England report, 2012, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre
The Chief Medical Officer’s report recommends that the amount of time spent being sedentary should be minimised.
For all age groups and both sexes, levels of sedentary time are elevated at weekends compared to weekdays.

12. Trends in travel to school
Children aged 5-16years; National Travel Survey, Great Britain /
Most children reported walking to school in These figures have remained very similar for the last nine years, although there has perhaps been a slight drop in the number walking and a corresponding small increase in car journeys since 1995/97.
Data from the National Travel Survey,
Data includes trips of less than 50 miles only
Patterns and trends in child physical activity

13. International comparison of physical inactivity (at ages 15 and over)
We are losing physical literacy as a nation
Definition of physical literacy: the motivation. Confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take respomnsibilty for engagement in physical activities for life

15. Public Health England Everybody Active, Every day
A framework to embed physical activity into daily life.
Action options with the strongest evidence base and most potential for implementation within the current climate.
Actions run across the life course.
Many action's are existing policy, others are evidence based NICE guidance.
All could yield real population-level return on investment – if implemented at scale.
Shropshire Health and Wellbeing Board: 2015 Year of Physical Activity EAED PA Strategy
Oct 2014

16. 4 Domains National actions
Sector specific local actions: local government, NHS commissioners/providers, schools, sports & leisure, businesses, vol.sector
Teach every child to enjoy, value and have the skills to be active everyday

17. Tools and resources:
UKActive: Generation Inactive: ‘It would be considered as unacceptable if a child was allowed to leave school without parents and teachers having a basic understanding of their ability in Maths and English, yet we appear willing to accept the concept of children leaving primary school without a formal understanding of their fitness levels and the impact this could have in later life.’
Designed to Move: Active Schools: Summary of evidence base and blueprint for school leaders, tools to create an active school
Everybody Active Everyday seminar 11th March, STDC
PHSE resource, “Respect Yourself, Eat Better Move More”
School Sports Premium, ( Energize STW support)
Question 1: Does your school have a ‘whole school’ approach to physical activity and if so:
Do this it aim to increase p’a levels
How are you measuring outcomes / improvements?
Question 2: Does your school know how active your children ? How are you able to assess increases in physical activity levels?