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Children: Exercise

Answer

The Government do not allocate discrete funding for this purpose on an area basis and it is not possible to provide an answer in the format requested.Encouraging all children and young people to adopt a more active lifestyle is a priority for this Government. Our strategic approach to this is set out in 'Be Active, Be Healthy', 'Healthy lives, brighter futures: the strategy for children and young people's Health' and 'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: a Cross-Government Strategy for England'.These strategies support the Chief Medical Officer's recommendation that children and young people should achieve a total of at least 60 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity each day, and at least twice a week this should include activities to improve bone health, muscle strength and flexibility.Individuals can achieve this level of activity through a variety of routes, including everyday activity, such as walking or cycling, active recreation, such as play, dance, or swimming, and through sport, both for competition and for individual exercise. The role of parents and carers in influencing children's activity levels is crucial, so the Government support initiatives to improve family based activity as well as a range of initiatives in children's settings, all of which are available to children and young people in Castle Point and Essex.Initiatives which focus on supporting children and their families to be physically active include:"the Change4Life social marketing campaign, backed by £75 million of funding over three years to 2011, promotes an 'eat well, move more, live longer' message to families with children aged five to 11. Since its launch in January 2009, over 255,000 families have contacted Change4Life and received tailored materials on physical activity and healthy eating as a result;""Sure Start Children's Centres, which should engage parents to promote a whole-family approach to eating well and keeping active, and organise and promote physical activities;""the universal, NHS-delivered Healthy Child Programme for ages 0 to five supports parents in keeping their children healthy, and focuses on developing and maintaining healthy nutritional and lifestyle habits from a very early age;""the Play Strategy, through which 3,500 new or refurbished play areas and 30 staffed adventure playgrounds are being delivered, aimed at eight to 13-year-olds, with a focus on disadvantaged ""areas. Details of funding for play schemes in Essex and Castle Point were given in answer to a previous question (Commons written question 282065);""nearly 60 per cent. of local authorities have promised to provide free swimming for the under 16s and have opted-in to the Free Swimming Programme which the Government are supporting with £140 million over the period 2008-09 to 2010-11."Initiatives which are delivered through early years settings, schools and colleges include:"the PE and School Sport for Young People strategy, through which 90 per cent. of pupils aged five to 16 now participate in at least two hours a week of high quality PE and school sport. The strategy also aims to ensure that all five to 19-year-olds have the opportunity for an additional three hours of sport a week outside the school day;""the National Healthy Schools Programme: almost every school in the country has achieved, or is working towards, Healthy School status, which sets national standards for health and well-being around four core themes, including physical activity;""schools offering access to Extended Services offer access to a wide range of services from 8 am to 6 pm, 48 weeks a year. The services include play, recreation and sports, and community access to facilities including adult learning and sports facilities;""the £140 million joint DCSF and DFT Travel to School Initiative promotes walking and cycling: 17,392 (69 per cent.) of schools have active travel plans worth around £5,000 for a typical primary and around £10,000 for a typical secondary school;""the Bikeability scheme aims to train 500,000 children to level 2 by 2010. Over 146,000 have already received training;""since September 2008, sports co-ordinators have been appointed in 358 FE colleges, so almost all FE colleges have a co-ordinator in place."

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

496 c1406-7W; 285924

Session

2008-09

Subjects

Children Essex Exercise

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk