Statistics on Obesity, PA & Diet: England, Jan 08 i Compiled by Sally Cornfield on behalf of PAN-WM Headline Findings.

Statistics on Obesity, PA & Diet: England, Jan 08i

Compiled by Sally Cornfield on behalf of PAN-WM

Headline Findings

PA Headline Statements (Children 2-15yrs)

• In 2006 70% of boys & 59% of girls achieved the current PA recommendations (1hr a day)ii. (Figure 1)

• The HSE records activities that children ‘chose’ to do i.e. out-of-school PA, sports & exercise, active play & walking. Also housework & gardening is included for children aged 8 & over. (See Appendix A)

• A further 15% of boys & 19% of girls participated in PA for at least

30 but less than 60 minutes on 7 days in the week. Low levels of PA (less than 30 mins or not at all) were reported by 15% of boys and 22% of girls. (Figure 1)

• For girls, high levels of PA declined from age 8 onwards, while boys levels remained similar across the age groups. (Figures 2 & 3)

Figure 1

Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet: England. January, 2008. The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at:http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/opan08/OPAD%20Jan%202008%20final.pdf

Children’s PA levels by gender, 2006

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/opan08/OPAD%20Jan%202008%20final.pdf


Figures 2 & 3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

%

AllAges

3 5 7 9 11 13 15

Age

Boys PA levels by age, 2006

High

Medium

Low

Health Survey for England 2006. The Information Centre, 2008. Available at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse06cvdandriskfactors

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

%

AllAges

3 5 7 9 11 13 15

Age

Girls PA levels by age, 2006

High

Medium

Low

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse06cvdandriskfactors

• Trend data from 2002iii – 2006ii reveal that PA levels have remained similar. (Figure 4)

• In 2006 99% of boys & girls reported doing some type of PA on at least one day in the past weekii.

• 95% of boys & 92% of girls reported participation in some activity on 5 or more dates in the last weekii.

• The most common PA for boys (at least once in the previous week) was active play (93%) followed by walking (90%). 70% participating in active play on 5 or more days followed by walking (65%)ii. (Figure 5)

• 22% of boys took part in sport & exercise on 5 or more days but only 4% (8yrs+) participated in housework or gardeningii. (Figure 5)


Figure 4


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

%

High Medium Low High Medium Low

PA Levels

Trends in PA levels by gender, 2002 & 2006

The Health Survey for England 2002. The Department of Health, 2003. Available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_4078027

Boys 2002

Boys 2006

Girls 2002

Girls 2006


http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_4078027


Figure 5


Children’s participation on or more days in the last week in different activities by gender, 2006



• For girls walking was the most common PA with 91% walking (at least once in the previous week) & 63% walking on at least 5 days in the last weekii. (Figure 5)

• Only 14% of girls took part in sport & exercise on 5 or more days but 59% participated in active play on the same number of occasionsii. (Figure 5)

• 6% of girls (8yrs+) participated in housework or gardening on 5 or more daysii. (Figure 5)

• Parental PA levels are associated with children’s PA levels. In households where parental PA participation is high, children in all age & gender groups report higher PA levels than children in households where only one parent had high PA levelsii. (Figure 6 & 7)


Figures 6 & 7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

%

Dad High

Dad Medium

Dad Low

Mum High

Mum Medium

Mum Low

Boys PA levels by parental PA category by age, 2006

Low 11-15

Medium 11-15

High 11-15

Low 2-10

Medium 2-10

High 2-10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

%

Dad High

Dad Medium

Dad Low

Mum High

Mum Medium

Mum Low

Girls PA levels by parental PA category by age, 2006

Low 11-15

Medium 11-15

High 11-15

Low 2-10

Medium 2-10

High 2-10



• Generally a greater proportion of children of fathers with low PA levels had either medium or low PA levels compared with children of fathers with high PA levelsii. (Figures 6 & 7)

• Almost half (47%) of girls aged 11-15yrs whose fathers had low activity levels has had low PA levelsii. (Figure 7)

•The same association was found between children's and mothers’ activity levels with the difference most pronounced in girls 11-15yrs (35%)ii. (Figure 7)

• Equivalised household income has little if any effect on the level of a child’s participation in PA. However patterns for sport & exercise & equivalised household did emerge. (Figure 8)


Figure 8


Participation in sport & exercise on at least 1 day in the past week by equivalised household income & gender, 2006

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Highest 2nd 3rd 4th Lowest

Quintile

%

Boys 2-10

Boys 11-15

Girls 2-10

Girls 211-15


• Participation in sport & exercise on at least one day in the week increased with equivalised household income for boys aged 2-10 & girls in both the 2-10yrs & 11-15yrs group. (Figure 8)

• Among boys aged 11-15yrs there was a similar pattern with lower participation among those in the lowest two quintiles than in the upper three. (Figure 8)

• Among boys the proportion doing 60 or more minutes of PA on all 7 days ranged from 76% in the East Midlands to 66% in London & the East of England. (Figure 9)

• Among girls, 65% in the North East were meeting the hour a day recommendation, compared to 52% in London. (Figure 9)


Figure 9

37.2%

29.7%

9.2%

3.5%

8.7%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80%

North East

North West

Yorkshire & The Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

East England

London

South West

South East

Children's PA levels by GO Region & gender, 2006

Girls LowGirls MediumGirls HighBoys LowBoys MediumBoys High



• 74% of boys & 63% of girls from Scotlandiv reported meeting the PA recommendation compared to 70% of boys and 61% of girls in Englandiii. (Figure 10)

• The School Sport Survey shows that in 2006/07 86% of pupils in partnership schools participated in at least two hours of high quality PE & School Sport in a typical weekv. (Figure 11)

• This compares to 62% in 2003/04, 69% in 2004/05 & 80% in 2005/06v.

• 91% of pupils in primary school, 80% in secondary school & 88% in special school reported participated in at least two hours of high quality PE & School Sport in a typical weekv.

• Year 1 has seen the largest increase from 51% in 2004/05 to 87% in 2006/07v.


Figure 10Proportion meeting the current PA

recommendations, England & Scotland by gender




Figure 11


Pupils who participated in at least 2hrs of high quality PE & school sport in a typical week, by school type, 2004/05 to 2006/07




• The School Sport Survey shows that pupils spent an average of almost 2hrs in a typical week (115minutes) on curriculum PEv.

• Year 7 spent the most time (126 minutes) in curriculum PE and Year 11 spent the least time (94 minutes) v. (Figure 12)

• Pupils in special schools spent the most time taking part in curriculum PE (133 minutes) compared to primary schools (117 minutes) & secondary schools (112 minutes)v. (Figure 13)

• Curriculum time is important to support high PA levels for children as overall 70% of all children achieved the target the curriculum time alone in 2006/07v. (61% in 2005/06v). (Figure 14)

• Year 7 have the highest proportion achieving the target through curriculum time alone 84%, while years 10 & 11 report the lowest proportion through curriculum time alone (38% & 35% respectively)v. (Figure 14)

Figure 12

The 2006/07 School Sport Survey. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2007. Available at: https://dservuk.tns-global.com/schoolsports2007/DownloadableDocuments/2006-07%20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdf

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Time in

minutes

Year1

Year2

Year3

Year4

Year5

Year6

Year7

Year8

Year9

Year10

Year11

Year Group

Total curriculum time pupils spent taking part in PE in a typical week, by year group, 2004/05 to 2006/07

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

Figure 13

The 2006/07 School Sport Survey. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2007. Available at: https://dservuk.tns-global.com/schoolsports2007/DownloadableDocuments/2006-07%20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdf

Total curriculum time by school type, 2004/05 to 2006/07

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

Time in Minutes

Special

Secondary

Primary

Figure 14


How 2hrs PE & school sport is achieved by year group, 2006/07


• In 2006 just over half (52%) of trips to school by children 5-10yrs were made on foot, similar to the proportion in 1995/97 (53%)vi.

• While the proportion travelling to school by foot is lower among older children aged 11-16 (41%) the levels among this age groups has also remained similar since 1995/97 (42%)vi.

• Walking is the most popular mode of transport to school for children aged 5-16yrs (2006)vi . (Figure 15)

Figure 15


Trips to school for children aged 5-16 by mode of transport, 2006

Appendix A

• Sports and exercise included physical activities such as swimming, football, tennis, gymnastics and covered more organised structured sporting activities.

• Active play included activities such as riding a bike, kicking a ball around, running about, playing active games and jumping around.

• Information on walking was collected for those children who had done any continuous walks of at least 5 minutes duration.

• Housework and gardening was collected for those children aged 8 and over and included activities that involved pulling or pushing and lasted at least 15 minutes, such as vacuuming or cleaning a car.

References• i Office of National Statistics (2008) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity & Diet:

England. January, 2008. The Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. Available at:http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/opan08/OPAD%20Jan%202008%20final.pdf

• ii Health Survey for England 2006. The Information Centre, 2008. Available at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse06cvdandriskfactors

• iii The Health Survey for England 2002. The Department of Health, 2003. Available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_4078027

• iv The Scottish Health Service 2003. Scottish Executive Health Department, 2005 Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251

• v The 2006/07 School Sport Survey. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2007. Available at:

https://dservuk.tns-global.com/schoolsports2007/DownloadableDocuments/2006-07%20School%20Sport%20Survey%20Report.pdf

• vi Transport Statistics Bulletin. National Travel Survey: 2006. Department for Transport, 2007. Available at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/personal/mainresults/nts2006/





http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251

