Political opinion with Beccy Cooper MP: Promoting children’s health
We all want our children to have the healthiest possible start in life. But sad to say, our education system needs to go much further in promoting their health and wellbeing.
Young people need a school environment which ensures that they are physically and mentally healthy. But new figures show that 58% of children do less exercise than is recommended by the World Health Organisation. And that by 2035, 41% of Year-6 students will be overweight or obese. While 1 in 4 children currently are said to have a probable mental health condition.
As part of my work on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Healthy Places, I’m looking at ways to make school as healthy an environment as possible.
We know the habits children develop at a young age can have a lifelong impact on their health. We also know that children who are physically active see clear improvements in academic outcomes, from classroom focus to GCSE scores. We need schools to provide opportunities to improve our children’s physical and mental health, whether in the exercise they can engage in or the food they eat.
Since 2010, 926 playing fields have closed across the country. And with so many councils facing financial crisis, this trend is likely to continue. So the first step must be to reverse that, by investing in more facilities, such as playground equipment, to create spaces that encourage physical activity.
Schools receive a PE and Sports Premium but currently every school gets the same per-pupil funding, overlooking the fact that some schools and regions across the country face much higher inequalities, and need more support.
But it’s not only a matter of money. There is a lot we can do to increase physical activity as a normal part of the school day. For example, the vast majority of a pupil’s time is spent sat down. And so schools could design lessons that require children to move around as a natural, integrated part of the activity. Restricting junk food advertising outside schools, encouraging active travel, providing cycling and swimming lessons are all no- or low-cost measures that will make an incremental difference. While the new Ofsted framework should highlight the work schools do to promote wellbeing and physical activity as part of their reports.
We will be putting a number of questions to government on this issue. Whether it be what steps are being taken to address the lower levels of physical activity among girls and children from disadvantaged backgrounds, or what strategy do we have to promote physical activity in schools and reduce childhood obesity into the future?
The next generation’s health is too important to be left to only a proportion of better-off schools. We need a country-wide strategy which goes beyond just providing a couple of hours of PE a week. By taking a holistic approach and embedding physical activity across and around the school day, we can help to make sure that every child has an active and healthy childhood.