Most parents 'unaware' how much exercise children need
More than two-thirds of parents are unaware of how much exercise their children should be doing to keep healthy, according to a survey.
NHS guidelines recommend that children between the ages of five and 18 should undertake one hour of exercise every day, but 68 percent of parents said they did not know this and thought the length of time was lower.
Most people thought the exercise target was 46 minutes a day according to the survey of 2,000 adults from YouGov for the Youth Sport Trust (YST).
YST chief executive Ali Oliver told The Guardian: “We’ve seen a worrying trend in recent years of a decline in young people’s physical activity, and a squeeze on time allocated to good quality physical education.”
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Sport England believes that only 17.5 percent of children are hitting their 60-minute exercise target and 39 percent of children from the poorest families do less than half an hour of exercise a day compared to 26 percent of children from wealthier families.
The NHS recommends children to do moderate activity every day, which can range from cycling and playground activities to vigorous activity such as running and tennis.
The guidelines state that children should be doing exercise for strong muscles and bones, for example gymnastics and tennis, three days a week.
There is a strong link between being active for at least 60 minutes a day and better general health, including stronger bones and muscles and a higher level of self esteem.
The UK has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe.
In 2014, one in every three 10-year-olds and more than one in every five four year olds in England were overweight or obese.
Being overweight can leave children at a greater risk of type two diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
