Delivering subject content through nine life themes
More evidence has been published suggesting that children are not as physically active as they need to be and that their activity levels are actually falling over time. Covid has been a factor, of course: the new University of Bristol study indicates that children… Continue Reading “We need to keep children active”
Recently published figures on life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and adult activity levels reveal stark and shocking inequalities across the nation. We have been blogging recently about the need to rethink how we tackle obesity. And however unwelcome the thought is at a time… Continue Reading “Opportunities to swim”
The radical writer and activist George Monbiot wrote recently about an ‘epistemic crisis’ – ‘epistemic’ means ‘relating to knowledge’. He quoted the journalist Gabriel Gatehouse lamenting the loss of a “common frame of reference” and a “shared sense of reality”. Monbiot’s argument was that… Continue Reading “Rethinking how we tackle obesity”
The latest Active Lives survey from Sport England, published this week, suggests that there has been a partial recovery in adult activity levels following a large drop caused by the Covid pandemic. However, more than 12 million adults are currently classed as inactive. The… Continue Reading “Ensuring children lead active lives”
Shocking new figures released by the UK Office for National Statistics are a reminder that there is a massive gap in healthy life expectancy and in overall life expectancy between the wealthiest and the poorest areas of England. For example, someone born in a… Continue Reading “Helping children lead healthy lives”
If you have eaten out in the last few days, you may have noticed a change to the menu, specifically the addition of information about calories. It is one of two new public health interventions announced in the last week. The second is (draft)… Continue Reading “Tackling the obesity crisis”
Earlier this month Play England published research showing that at least 21 adventure playgrounds have been lost across England – roughly 15% of the total – in the last five years. Many more have suffered severe cuts in funding. Adventure play and adventure playgrounds… Continue Reading “Fund rather than cut adventure play”
A report published by the Women in Sport charity this week suggests that more than half of all teenage girls do not regard themselves as sporty. Another deflating statistic is that only 31% of girls said that their father encourages them to be sporty,… Continue Reading “Playing catch-up: Schools have a crucial role in efforts to reignite girls’ interest in sport”
New research indicates that nearly half of all girls may be disengaging from sport when they enter their teenage years. The Women in Sport charity calls them ‘the lost 43%’. It says that it is “deeply concerned by the number of girls who disengage… Continue Reading “New report warns of alarming decline in girls’ participation in sport as they reach puberty”
Yesterday the UK government published its long-awaited ‘levelling up’ White Paper, a sprawling 332-page document covering everything from employment, pay and productivity to what it calls ‘pride in place’. The vision is based on a ‘Medici model’, drawing inspiration from Renaissance Italy. Health and… Continue Reading “Stepping up – rather than levelling up – food education”