As we enjoy a summer packed with big sporting events, not least the Olympics in Paris, it is uncomfortable to find out many children have not returned to play sports at the same levels as pre Covid-19. Of course, compared to our European peers, these pre-Covid levels were nothing to write home about so to see a downward step is concerning on many levels. Seen through a health prism this is crying out to be seen as part of the wider health prevention agenda and debate.
Of course, children don’t play sport because:
- they think it will improve their life expectancy (Scotland having the worst in western Europe[1]),
- they think it might reduce their risk of developing coronary heart disease (Scotland’s biggest killer[2]),
- it might help keep their BMI in a healthy range, helping to avoid type 2 diabetes in adulthood or even before (a significant burden on Scotland’s NHS[3]),
- they think it will improve their mental health and wellbeing. (In 2020, almost one-quarter of young people in Scotland experienced two or more psychological problems in a single week. About 1 in 10 children and young people between the ages of five and 16 had a mental illness that could be diagnosed clinically[4]).
Children play sport because it’s fun. They get to play with family and friends, old and new. They enjoy the steps of achievement, a badge or belt or certificate. They love to win but are surprisingly resilient when they lose. They celebrate when their team does well, understanding a major life lesson, it takes a whole team to win, or to lose.
Additionally, they are adopting pastimes, skills and habits which they can carry into adulthood. These early learnt skills are more than just how to swim, paddle a kayak, swing a racket or throw a ball, these are skills which give children moving into different life stages, and perhaps new locations, the confidence to join like minded in clubs and societies, helping to establish and embed themselves in their local community.
Of course, many, if not all, of these clubs rely on hard working volunteers, the essential fabric which supports community sports and physical activity. Children and young people see, understand and ultimately become part of that community supporting structure. A virtuous circle.
Yet all the health benefits of sport and physical activity, and more, are true. So, the findings in a report published jointly by the Observatory for Sport in Scotland and The Data for Children Collaborative on 19th June 2024 are all the more concerning. It looks at the impact of Covid 19 on children’s return to sport, or not.
The report identifies how many children have not returned to sport post Covid 19, a key factor being the pressure on local authority funding, something which has impacted the very backbone of Scottish leisure and sports services. There have been hundreds of facilities closed, swingeing cuts to staff and volunteers as local authorities battle to balance their books. Additionally, Covid19, and the isolation it imposed, has left some children with issues of anxiety and body confidence, barriers exacerbated by increasing participation costs. Of course, it is the children who come from the poorest socio-economic backgrounds who are the worst affected.
So, the challenge to our political leaders and policy makers is this: if children taking part in sport and physical activity isn’t an important part of the health prevention agenda, then what is? Allowing children’s participation levels to drop when the Scottish health stats are, at best, fairly alarming seems to be the equivalent of scoring a very public own goal.
There is a way forward mooted. The report calls for a Scottish Children’s Sports Strategy (SCSS), one based on much better quality data than is currently available. An essential plank of a future SCSS has to be foundations of rock solid data, evidence and analysis.
A SCSS would bring a focus to a defined generational group with its own particular needs but from such a focus a broader sports strategy might flow, helping all ages and abilities. To be clear, this is not a call for top-down analysis and a “ta dah” solution, this is a call for the Scottish sports sector at its broadest to be central to the crafting of a SCSS.
It is something in its making that needs rigour, honesty and objective, independent oversight. It would need strong and credible leadership, so why not appoint an independent Tsar for Scottish Children’s Sport? He or she could lead on the setting of a national framework, structured around local needs, capacity, and ambitions. Such a framework would be the scaffolding from which a meaningful SCSS could be built. Not only would such a strategy create something of true value, it could, if built, developed and nurtured in the right way, have genuine support from the many sports leaders and volunteers on whom so much day to day, and future delivery relies.
Implementation of such an approach, and of the inevitable change required would take commitment to funding and strong political leadership. Frankly, Scottish children deserve no less.
Any takers?
Claire Anderson is Co vice-Chair of The Observatory for Sport in Scotland
[1] Public health Scotland, April 2024. National Records of Scotland Report 2020-22, provisional figures Sept 2023.
[2] ScotPHO
[3] Diabetes UK estimate Scotland’s NHS spends £875m pa on diabetes care, 55% on avoidable diabetes related complications.
[4] Children & Young Peoples’ Commissioner Scotland.