Today, ukactive – the leading not-for-profit health body (UK) for physical activity in all its forms is releasing new research into the perception between technology use and inactivity levels in children.

ukactive polled a nationally representative sample of 1,039 British parents to discover their opinions on their children’s use of technology and how this impacts upon physical activity levels, particularly over the Easter break. The findings suggest that parents believe that technology is limiting their children’s activity levels. ukactive recommends that a broad approach is taken to encourage children to get active, which extends beyond school time alone.

Key findings:

• The vast majority of British parents feel that the rise in tablet and smartphone use of young children is contributing to a decline in the amount of exercise they do.

• Parents see technology as a barrier to activity, and it is increasingly difficult to encourage children to become active due to a sharp increase in the number of children using iPads in recent years.

• It is more difficult for parents today to encourage children to become physically active than for previous generations. This is due to limited affordable opportunities for children to be active in their local area, and inadequate information disseminated by the government about the health risks of excessive sedentary time.

Recommendations:

1. As part of the government’s investment into children’s physical activity confirmed in the 2016 budget, funding should be set aside for an ‘Active Families Premium’ to provide affordable, engaging opportunities for children to be active during the school holidays, supporting parents and children to lead a healthy lifestyle during these crucial months

2. In addition to this, the existing ‘PE and Sport Premium’ should be effectively rebranded as the ‘Physical Activity Premium’ in order to ensure that the language and objectives are consistent with our singular focus on getting 60 active minutes throughout the day.

3. No new parent should leave a maternity care ward without guidance and information on the importance of active unstructured play with young children and the role of physical activity in a healthy start to life

4. Technology companies and tech manufacturers have a role to play too; government and the activity sector should embrace and work with technology providers to incentivise and reward developers who are creating technology which can get children moving

5. Government should commission further evidence into a standardised baseline measure for children’s fitness, so that we can begin to understand which are the most effective ways of getting more children, more active, more often

Source
Outdoor Industries Association
24/03/2016