41.7% of children and young people in Greater Manchester meet Chief Medical Officer guidelines and achieve an average of 60 minutes or more of physical activity a day. Whilst 36.6% are failing to achieve 30 minutes of physical activity a day.
The latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey data from Sport England has been released and has highlighted the impact Covid-19 has had on the activity levels of children and young people. Just 63.4% of children and young people in Greater Manchester (GM) are moving, achieving at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, this is lower than the national rate of 67.6%. In the last academic year it is promising to see that there has been no significant change from baseline (2017/18).
Overall, 41.7% of children and young people are active, average 60+ minutes of physical activity every day, 21.7% are fairly active, achieve an average of 30-59 minutes of physical activity a day, and 36.6% are inactive, do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a day.
Inactivity rates vary considerably across Greater Manchester with there being a 17.2% gap between the borough with lowest levels of inactivity, Wigan (27.1%), and the borough with the highest levels of inactivity, Rochdale (44.3%). This gap between boroughs has grown by 4.4% since the last release when there was an 12.8% gap.
Across Greater Manchester we see a difference across demographics with less active rates higher than the GM average amongst Asian and Other ethnicities. There has been a significant decrease amongst Mixed ethnicities (-15.7%) and low family affluence (-4.7%). Boys, although previously below average for less active have seen an increase (3.1%), whilst girls have seen a decrease (-2.5%). This does align with the national picture, boys have been particularly affected by Covid-19 and lockdown due to the restrictions on activity choice.
Published January 2021