Children are less active even since the COVID restrictions have eased

As reported by BBC News, a recent study has found that children’s activity levels are still below the national guidelines after COVID restrictions have eased

A study by the university of Bristol study concluded that by the end of 2021, less than a third of children were meeting the recommended guidelines of 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

The researchers found that children in England aged between 10 and 11 were doing eight minutes less activity than before 2021.

The study looked at nearly 400 children and their parents from 23 schools across Bristol. The children wore accelerometers to measure the physical activity and answered survey questions about their lifestyles.

This data was compared with figures from over 1,000 children and their parents who were recruited from 50 similar schools before the COVID lockdown.

Professor Russ Jago from the University of Bristol, said the results were “surprising”.

“These findings highlight a greater need to work with children, families, schools, and communities to maximise the opportunities for children to be physically active as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Researchers said children were also less active at the weekend than during the week, only taking part in 46 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity from Saturday to Sunday.

University of Bristol statistician Dr Ruth Salway said: “The key strength of this study was we used data collected before and after the pandemic, using the same methods and in the same schools.

“The data clearly demonstrates children’s physical activity had deteriorated once the restrictions were lifted.”