Wealthier children get more exercise than poorer children, research finds

As reported by the BBC, only about two in five children (42%) from low-income homes do the recommended 60 minutes’ exercise a day compared to 54% of higher-income houses

The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey was conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Sport England in the school year 2018-19 with online surveys completed in classrooms across state primary, state secondary and independent schools. The online survey gathered answers from 132,835 children and 4,480 parents.
The survey found that children from more affluent homes enjoy exercise more, with 43% of those from poor homes saying they enjoyed being active, compared with 59% of those from wealthy families.
There is also an exercise gender gap, the researchers say, with about half of boys but only two in five girls meeting the recommended minimum for sport and exercise. The researchers also found the black and Asian children were less likely to be doing enough exercise than the rest of the children in their age group.
“Significant inequalities remain in the areas of family affluence, gender and race,” Sport England said.
The good news is overall exercise levels have improved slightly since 2018. Almost half of all children (46.8%) now take part in an average of 60 minutes of physical activity a day, up 3.6% on last year’s figure of 43.2%.
Government guidelines recommend children and young people get 30 minutes of their daily physical activity during the school day and a further 30 minutes outside of school.
Sport England said the survey results indicate the rise in exercise levels has been driven by more children being active outside school.
Of the children who responded to the questionnaire:

  • Four per cent did 30 minutes or more a day at school.
  • Two per cent did 30 minutes or more a day outside school.

However, almost a third (29%) of the children were doing less than 30 minutes of exercise whether in or outside school.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or connect with us on LinkedIn!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter like us on Facebook or connect with us on LinkedIn!

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply