Call for case studies: Supporting children, young people and families to be active

In August 2024 we published a report on women and girls activity levels. We are now seeking your examples of what councils, and their partners are doing to get children, young people and families physically active so they can reap the full benefits.

Get involved

Why children, young people and families?

Research shows that being active in childhood and adolescence has a wealth of positive benefits. It improves cardiorespiratory fitness, builds strong bones and muscles, controls weight, reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression and lowers the risk of developing long term health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

But the benefits extend beyond health and wellbeing outcomes. Positive physical activity behaviours or habits developed in childhood and adolescence are likely to be seen in adulthood, creating more active adults. Physical activity may improve children’s cognitive functions and academic performance at school.

Activity does not have to be structured or through formalised routes. Research also tells us that when parents and care givers are active with their children they become role models, encouraging the adoption of more active lifestyles later in life.  Its also a great way for families to spend time together, have fun, bond, and socialise. Getting the whole family – adults and children alike, moving more and enjoying the health and wellbeing benefits. Play is a key way for children to learn, make friends, and develop social, physical, and cognitive skills. It also helps children develop creativity, cultural awareness, and resilience.

“We saw a direct, positive association between physical activity in children and their mothers – the more activity a mother did, the more active her child. Although it is not possible to tell from this study whether active children were making their mothers run around after them, it is likely that activity in one of the pair influences activity in the other.” 

Study: Activity Levels in Mothers and Their Preschool Children, Kathryn Hesketh et al.

However, despite the evidence on the benefits, the Active Lives Survey (academic year 2022/23) shows that the number of children and young people being active is not sufficient and progress is slow:

• Fifty-three per cent of children and young people do not meet the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day.
• Of this amount, 30.2 per cent do fewer than an average of 30 minutes a day, similar to the number (33 per cent) recorded in 2017/18 when the survey first started.  
• The number of children and young people active for 60 minutes or more a day has increased by four per cent since records began (43 per cent in 2017 to 2018 compared to 47 per cent in 2022/23).
• Physical literacy is down compared to five years ago. This declines with age as secondary-aged children feel less confident, competent and gain less enjoyment from sport and activity.

When we look at specific groups, the data shows inequalities exist:   

• Nearly a third (29 per cent) of disabled children who took part in the survey are doing less than 30 minutes of physical activity each day, meaning that one in three disabled children are missing out on the benefits of an active lifestyle.
• Those from the least affluence families are the least likely to be active (44 per cent). 
• Children and young people of Black (40 per cent), Asian (40 per cent) and Other ethnicities (44 per cent) are the least likely to be active compared to their White other (54 per cent) and White British (50 per cent) counterparts.
• A gender gap exists, with boys (51 per cent) more likely to be active than girls (44 per cent).

How to get involved – respond to our call for case studies

We want to understand more about what local government and their partners are already doing to get children, young people, and families active so they can reap the full benefits from participating and moving more.

We want to hear about hyper local interventions to whole system approaches and everything in between. We are keen to demonstrate the value of sport and physical activity and its wider impact. We are interested in hearing about case studies that demonstrates how sport and physical activity interventions for children, young people and families are helping to reduce the burden on and demand for statutory and wider services like children’s services and social care, criminal justice system, public health. 

We are also keen to receive examples on specific subsections of children and young people (please see drop down “specific areas of interest” below for more information).

We will use your examples to share effective practice with the sector and to illustrate our lobbying asks of Government and wider system partners. 

What we will deliver

The call for case studies will close on 18 February 2025.  

Whilst it is running, we will:  

• Continuously publish case studies on the LGA case study database when we receive them so councils can start learning from each other straight away. 
• Publish a report on our findings on supporting children, young people and families to be physically active.

Why is this important? 

Inactivity creates a host of public health issues that impacts on our children and young people now and stores up problems further down the line for our health and social care services. Some of the biggest risks include (but are not limited to): 

The impact on care experienced children and young people is much greater. As a vulnerable group, that is often unseen, they face a range of social and health inequalities. Including poorer educational outcomes, higher rates of special educational needs, emotional and mental health problems, higher rates of homelessness and unemployment upon leaving care. Research shows: 

• There were 83,840 children looked after in England in 2023. This includes 5,570 asylum-seeking children in care.
• Adults placed in care in childhood were much more likely to die prematurely than those who lived with their parents. Additionally, adults in residential care as a child were 3-4 times more likely to report their health as ‘not good’ compared to adults who had lived with relatives.
• Almost 25 per cent of the adult prison population have previously been in care, and nearly 50 per cent of under 21-year-olds in contact with the criminal justice system have spent time in care. (Home For Good | England)
• Looked-after children are more at risk of interacting with the criminal justice system in early adulthood than their peers. Among looked-after children 52 per cent were convicted of a criminal offence by the academic year they turned the age of 24, compared to 13 per cent of children who had not experienced care. (Home For Good | England)

• Research on sport and physical activity in the lives of looked after children found:

  - Changes in placements and consequently schools, resulted in looked-after children often missing out on school-based sporting activities and are more dependent on out-of-school activities. 

  - Structural and organisational policies in care settings, such as set meal times and needing to negotiate time for activities with staff, means looked after children have less time for sport and physical activity. 

  - Sport and physical activity activities offers those living in, or leaving care opportunities to develop friendships and widen their social network in mainstream activities with young people who are not in care. This is particularly important for looked-after children who, due to past experiences, may find interacting with wider networks and communities particularly difficult.