North East Herts MP Sir Oliver Heald visited Therfield First School during National School Sports Week to encourage more children be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
The visit provided Sir Oliver with an opportunity to hear pupils talk about the benefits that they get from being physically active and what they find fun.
National School Sports Week, led by charity the Youth Sport Trust, is this year raising awareness of the Chief Medical Officers’ recommendation that children should be highly active with an elevated heart rate for a minimum of 60 minutes each day.
The campaign sees activities taking place in schools, organisations and homes across the country from 19-25 June and has been supported by a number of athletes, celebrities and political figures.
t comes at a time when almost three quarters of parents (72%) are concerned that young people today are not getting enough physical activity, with 77% concerned young people spend too much time sitting and not being active.
Commenting, Sir Oliver said: “It was fantastic to visit Therfield First School to support National School Sports Week and to see children being active and having fun. Young people face so many challenges to their physical and mental health, and providing opportunities to be active is a great way to empower them to live happier and healthier lives.
“Too few people are aware of the recommendation that children should be active for at least 60 minutes each day. That’s why I’m proud to take the pledge to play to encourage more young people to make physically activity a key part of daily life.”
Alison Oliver MBE, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “The Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines tell us children need to be active for 60 minutes every day. Yet our research shows us that public awareness of this target is low, even though is it key to children’s health and happiness. Whilst 86% of parents believe that sport and play are important parts of every young person’s education and development, only 42% are aware that children should be active for 60 minutes a day on average over the course of a week.
“We are really grateful to Sir Oliver Heald MP for supporting National School Sports Week and encouraging busy schools and families to find fun ways to be active together. This is a key part of the urgent action we need to support more young people, schools and families to play for fun, and play for 60.”
The theme of the campaign this year is ‘Play for fun, play for 60’. The Pledge to Play supports the recommendation that children are active within school for 30 minutes a day, and then outside of school for at least another 30 minutes, supporting every child to reach the minimum amount of 60 active minutes.