“During the pandemic families faced huge challenges but there were some positives to emerge,” says Sarah Watts, CEO, Alliance Leisure. “According to Sport England research, 21 per cent of 7-16 year olds reported they were more active as a family during lockdown.¹ This is encouraging news and highlights the important role that family can play in helping young people reach physical activity targets.

“Active Families shines a light on two important factors. Firstly, it explores the many benefits of family physical activity, whilst also highlighting barriers to participation and how they can be overcome. It also looks at a child’s physical development needs at various stages of their life and how these needs are answered by the current activity provision.

“Secondly, the report showcases Alliance’s work with TAGactive to evidence how innovative physical activity solutions can provide positive and viable activity choices to families and encourage them to exercise regularly together.

“We are very pleased to have contributed to this important piece of work. As childhood obesity continues to rise and many schools struggle to deliver the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended  daily physical activity target, the role of the family in helping children to achieve physical literacy is more critical than ever. Developing accessible family focused facilities that inspire movement can encourage the formation of habits and values that are likely to carry into adulthood, safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our future generations.”

Reference

1 Sport England (2020) Children’s experience of physical activity in lockdown https://www.thinkactive.org/wp-content/ uploads/2020/07/Sport-England-Childrens-experience-of- physical-activity.pdf