Major study reveals stark inequalities in children’s in-school physical activity across English Primary Schools

A large-scale study by the University of Bath of more than 17,000 primary school pupils and 2,300 teachers across England has revealed dramatic differences in levels of physical activity in children during the school day, despite all schools following the same national curriculum.

The peer-reviewed research, published in Human Kinetics Journals used wearable technology to track activity over an average of 25 days during school hours across 165 primary schools in urban and rural regions in 2021-22. It is the largest study of its kind in England, offering unprecedented insight into how some schools are supporting physical activity and health very effectively, whereas other schools need more support.

Key findings:

• Only 30% of pupils met the recommended 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day during school hours.
• In some schools, pupils averaged just 8 minutes of MVPA, while in others, they exceeded 40 minutes, over five times more.
• Daily step counts ranged from 1,800 to over 10,000 steps per pupil.
• Children in more deprived schools (measured by % of pupils eligible for free school meals) did ~25 minutes less MVPA each week.
• The gender gap varied significantly: while boys were generally more active, 5% of schools had girls outperforming boys, and several others showed minimal differences between boys and girls.
• Playground size did not explain the differences, challenging the assumption that more space equals more movement.
• Schools with more active teachers had more active pupils, hinting at the influence of staff and school culture and leadership.

Lead author Georgina Wort from the Department for Health at the University of Bath said: “It is really important to consider the health and wellbeing impacts of these findings. Many children are not getting enough opportunity to engage in meaningful movement within a school day. It’s also noteworthy that, despite the same policy conditions, some schools had pupils achieving double or triple the levels of physical activity compared to other schools.”

The study reinforces growing evidence that children in more deprived areas face bigger barriers to physical activity, even during school hours, where opportunities should be more equal.

Lead author Georgina Wort added: “These findings highlight health inequalities in physical activity during the school day. And this is unlikely to be fixed by playground space alone. The variability in the gender gap also challenges long-held assumptions. We often hear that boys are just more active. But our data shows this is not inevitable, and some schools are already achieving equity.”

Co-author Professor Dylan Thompson from the Department for Health at the University of Bath said:

 “This study highlights how we need to do more to help many schools increase physical activity during the school day. Wearable technology could be used to help teachers identify pupils who need more support, or perhaps to identify times of the school week that are particularly sedentary. Schools could also share knowledge and learning, for example, schools with data showing lower levels of physical activity could learn from schools with higher levels of physical activity to understand what they could do differently.”

Tim Hollingsworth, Professor Of Practice (Sport) at the University of Bath and Former Chief Exec of Sport England said:

"The findings of this study provide further evidence that we are failing our children and young people when it comes to prioritising health and activity - and that the inequalities in opportunity that we know exist across schools, depending on where they are situated, are stark.The lesson we should take from this is that it is about more than formal sport provision - it is about enabling teachers to give greater focus to activity across all of the school day.”

This research as funded by the ESRC’s South West Doctoral Training Partnership, Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC).

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Link to study "Using Data-Driven Insights to Explore the Variability in Pupils’ Physical Activity Between English Primary Schools", https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2024-0868

Notes For more information, please contact:
University of Bath Press Office
Tel: 01225 386319
Email: press@bath.ac.uk   

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