Official Statistics

Physical activity data tool: statistical commentary, January 2022

Published 11 January 2022

Applies to England

New in this update

New data on children and young people’s physical activity in 2020 to 2021 has been added to the Physical Activity tool on the Fingertips platform. The percentage of physically active children and young people indicator has been updated and is available at local authority level as well as for England, the regions, and various inequality groups.

This update also includes the addition of local authority estimates for academic year 2019 to 2020, which have been published by Sport England as part of their 2020 to 2021 release. Only national and regional level estimates for 2019 to 2020 were previously published.

Main findings

Activity levels remain down compared to pre-pandemic but haven’t fallen further. In 2020 to 2021, 44.6% of children and young people in school years 1-11 (aged 5-16) in England met the Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day. This was similar to the figure for 2019 to 2020 (44.9%) but was lower than 2018 to 19 (46.8%) which was the last academic year completely unaffected by the pandemic. However, activity levels in 2020 to 2021 were higher than 2017 to 2018 (43.3%).

The percentage of children and young people that reported being physically active in 2020 to 2021 ranged from 42.0% in the West Midlands to 47.1% in the North East. No regions reported a statistically significant change in activity levels compared with 2019 to 2020.

In 2020 to 2021, estimates of the percentage of physically active children and young people among local authority districts and unitary authorities in England ranged from 22.7% (Tower Hamlets) to 63.0% (Wandsworth).

Boys (44.7%) were no longer more likely to report achieving recommended physical activity levels than girls (45.3%). This is as a result of a statistically significant increase among girls compared with 2019 to 2020 (42.7%).

Significant differences in activity levels remained among ethnic groups, with people that identified as White British still most likely to be physically active (47.7%), and those that identified as Black (35.7%), Other (38.0%) or Asian (38.7%) least likely to be active. No ethnic groups reported a statistically significant change in activity levels compared with 2019 to 2020.

The proportion of children achieving the recommended levels of physical activity differed across school year groups, with those in year 1 to 2 more likely to be active (51.8%) than those in year 3 to 6 (42.3%) and year 7 to 11 (43.6%).

Notes on data

This release presents data from Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey for the academic year 2020 to 2021. Covering September 2020 to July 2021, the data were collected throughout the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the summer term 2020, when school sites were first closed to most pupils, the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey was adapted to be completed from home. The adaptations were continued during academic year 2020 to 2021 to allow flexible completion of the survey at school or at home. In 2020 to 2021, where pupils completed the survey depended on the current government guidance. Some may have completed the survey at school as in previous years, some may have completed the survey as a homework task (secondary schools only), and some may have completed the survey at home if they were self-isolating.

For more details on the impact of these disruptions and amendments to the questionnaire, please see Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, Academic year 2020-21 report.

Background and further information

This statistical commentary summarises a new data point for the indicator on children and young people’s physical activity available in the Physical Activity tool. The data can be used to monitor the CMOs’ recommendation that children and young people (5 to 18 years) are physically active for an average of at least 60 minutes per day across the week. This data is also a Key Performance Indicator for the government’s sports strategy ‘Sporting Future: A new strategy for an active nation’.

Physical activity also forms a key component of the government’s plan for action to significantly reduce childhood obesity by supporting healthier choices, as outlined in ‘Childhood obesity: a plan for action’. One of the main aspects of the plan is to reduce childhood obesity by encouraging primary school children to eat more healthily and stay active.

Physical Activity tool

The Physical Activity tool brings together data on physical activity at a local level for England. It includes physical activity data, including walking and cycling, as well as information on related risk factors and conditions such as obesity and diabetes. The aim of the tool is to help local areas monitor the health of their local population, support needs assessment, local planning and commissioning of infrastructure and services that encourage and support people to be physically active.

Responsible statistician, product lead: Craig Timpson For queries relating to this document, please contact: ProfileFeedback@phe.gov.uk