Two-thirds of primary school children below recommended fitness level

A new report has found that two-thirds of primary school-age children are falling below the recommended levels of fitness for their age group.

The report, entitled Challenging Inactivity, found that just over a third (36%) of 5 to 7-year-olds were at an adequate level of fitness, falling to 32% and 33% for 8-9 and 10-11-year-olds. The youngsters were assessed by carrying out the Activity Challenge - a series of tests created to assess various factors of fitness including stamina, agility, co-ordination and cardiovascular endurance, to give a good indication of fitness and physical literacy.

Fit For Sport, a provider of physical activity services for schools, conducted the research via a study of 10,000 five to 11-year-olds and found that 67% were unable to reach targets in jumping, running and throwing. More concerning was the finding that a quarter (24%) fell "significantly" below recommended fitness levels.

Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that children spend 60 minutes a day being physically active - yet only 21% of boys and 16% of girls achieve this.

Fit For Sport has created a free online portal where parents can complete the Activity Challenge with their own children and log on to submit scores and compare children's results with the recommended levels - www.activitychallenge.co.uk.

Commenting on the findings Fit For Sport founder Dean Horridge said: "Parents know how well their children perform academically, but they often have no idea how fit their kids are.
"Two-thirds of the 10,000 children we tested were unable to meet achievable levels of fitness, such as completing 60 star jumps in one minute.

"This is a clear call to action: physical inactivity is a ticking time bomb for the UK's health and both parents and schools must make sure children are spending enough time being active to improve their fitness and health levels now, and set them off on a journey to an active life."

Emma Boggis, Chief Executive of the Alliance said, “Getting children engaged in and with physical activity is incredibly important if we are to avert the inactivity crisis that we have on our hands, so it is always concerning to see research which shows that official daily recommendations are not being met. This is an issue of great important to our members which is why as part of our Ministers’ To-Do List we want the next government to increase investment in teacher training to ensure quality PE and school sport are cornerstones of a child’s education from the very beginning.”

You can download the full Challenging Inactivity report here.

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