Change4Life and Disney 10 Minute Shake Up campaign

Facts and stats

Summer 2016

Please note that the information in this document is strictly embargoed. Information aboutthe Change4Life with Disney 10 Minute Shake Up campaign should not be shared publicly until 00:01 5 July 2016.

Facts and Stats

Inactivity

  • Just 21% of boys and 16% of girls currently meet the national recommended level of activity of 60 minutes each day[1]
  • Three quarters of children aged five to 11 (75%) want to do more physical activity[2]
  • 59% of children miss taking part in PE lessons during school summer holidays2
  • Two thirds of parents (66%) say they were more active when they were their children’s age2
  • 81% of parents of five to 11 year olds surveyed would like their children to be more physically active2
  • According to 58% of parents, one of the biggest barriers to their children being active is that they would rather watch TV or play video games2
  • 71% said that their children would likely be more physically active if they were more active themselves2
  • 61% of parents struggle for ideas on how to keep their children active during the school holidays2
  • The average frequency that sport or exercise is undertaken per week changes from age five to 11, indicating a shift in physical activity between these ages
  • 44.1% of five-year-olds did sport/exercise less than once a week. But by age 11, this drops to just 24.8%[3]
  • Conversely, only 10.2% of five-year-olds did sport/exercise more than three times in a week. By the age of 11, this figure increases to 33.2%3
  • This shows that the five to 11 bracket is a pivotal time period during which the amount of physical activity the average child undertakes increases3
  • 24.8% (nearly one in four) children aged 11 do sport or exercise less than once a week3
  • 19.6% (nearly one in five) of five-year-olds take part in ‘active playing’ with a parent less than once a week3
  • 64.2% of five-year-olds and 68.3% of 11-year-olds watch TV for up to three hours (one to three hours) on a weekday. Considering the time school finishes and the appropriate bedtime for children, this must mean children are spending the majority of their free time watching TV3
  • 46% of primary school children walk to school, whereas 70% of their parents walked to school, demonstrating a decrease from one generation ago[4]
  • When compared with 41 other countries, England ranked 27th in terms of how much moderate to vigorous physical activity its 11-year-olds reported each day, and is bottom third for physical activity in Europe[5]
  • Overall physical activity in 11-year-olds was approximately 15% higher in summer than in winter[6]

Swimming

  • Swimming was found to be one of children’s favourite activities during the summer, according to 32% of five to 11-year-olds surveyed2
  • 40% of five to 11-year-olds also said that they go swimming more often if they could go with their family2
  • 30% of mumsof five to 11-year-olds feel self conscious about their body, which prevents them and their families going swimming2

Benefits of Exercise

  • Guidance from the Chief Medical Officer states that all children and young people should engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for at least 60 minutes and up to several hours every day
  • Participation in physical activity and sport has a positive impact on children’s social skills and self-esteem[7]
  • Social benefits for children as a result of physical activity include increased confidence and peer acceptance, as well as a link to friendship7
  • In school-aged children, physical activity can lead to better academic achievement, increased attention span, improved behaviour and self-confidence as well as increased physical health and a reduced risk of developing chronic conditions and other illnesses in the future[8]

Obesity

  • One in five four- to five-year-olds and one in three 10 and 11-year-olds are overweight or obese[9]
  • Last year, one in 10 children was obese at the start of primary school in England and one in five was obese by the end of primary school, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre9
  • Over a third of children in the UK are overweight,[10]yet 79% of parents with an overweight child do not recognise that they are, and of those that do, 41% do not realise that it is a health risk[11]
  • Children who are overweight or obese when they are young are far more likely to become overweight or obese adults
  • The costs associated with being overweight and obese cost the NHS £5.1 billion per year and is predicted to cost the NHS £9.7billion by 2050, with wider costs to society estimated to reach £49.9 billion per year[12]
  • When fat builds up inside the body, this leads to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers in later life
  • 27% of boys and 17% of girls aged 11 are overweight or obese5
  • 21% of boys 26% of girls aged 11 think they are ‘too fat’5

Success of last year’s campaign

  • There was an increase in sign upsto the Change4Life and Disney 10 Minute Shake Up campaign from 292,823 in 2014 to 385,395 in 2015[13]
  • 97% of children enjoyed taking part in the Change4Life and Disney 10 Minute Shake Up campaign13
  • In 2015, 80% of mums agreed that their children did more activity thanks to the 10 Minute Shake Up campaign13

[1]Health Survey for England 2012 Last accessed June 2016

[2]Censuswide survey for Disney, Change4Life and the Amateur Swimming Association of 1,008 children aged 5-11 and parents of children aged 5-11 in England, June 2016

[3]Goisis Alice, Kelly Yvonne, Sacker Amanda. Why are poorer children at higher risk of obesity and overweight? A UK cohort study.The European Journal of Public Health.2015;1-7.

[4]No direct reference available however it is likely many of the figures came from the National Travel Survey Factsheet: Gov.uk. National Travel Survey Factsheet. Last accessed June 2016.

[5]Currie Dorothy, Inchley Jo, Young Taryn, et al. Growing up unequal: gender and socioeconomic difference in young people’s health and wellbeing. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HSBC) Study International Report from the 2013/2014 Survey.World Health Organization. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2016

[6]Leary S, Mattocks C, Ness A, et al. Intraindividual variation of objectively measured physical activity in children. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007; 39(4):622-629.

[7] Anna Chalkey, Karen Milton and Charlie Foster (2015) Change4Life evidence review

[8]Burkhalter TM, Hillman CH. A narrative review of physical activity, nutrition, and obesity to cognition and

scholastic performance across the human lifespan. AdvNutr. 2011;2:201S-6S.

[9]NCMP.England 2014-2015. Available at [Accessed December 2015]

[10] Kings College London study, published in ‘Achieves of Disease in Childhood’, January 2015 accessed June 2016.

[11] Park MH, Falconer CL, Saxena S, et al. Perceptions of health risk among parents of overweight children: a cross-sectional study within a cohort. Prev Med. 2013;57(1):55–59.

[12]NICE. Obesity: working with local communities. Costing report – implementing NICE guidance. Available at: Accessed December 2015]

[13]TNS BMRB Change4Life 10 Minute Shake Up final debrief, October 2015.