Ali Oliver highlights importance of keeping children active
National School Sports Week is an annual campaign by the Youth Sport Trust, dedicated to celebrating the power of PE, sport, and play to build brighter futures.
By Laura Howard
Youth Sport Trust CEO Ali Oliver MBE hopes to create awareness of the need for children to be active as she helped to launch National School Sports Week on Monday.
Oliver was at Dame Dorothy Primary School in Sunderland for a day packed with sport and activity as they kicked off the campaign which promotes the importance of daily physical activity by encouraging schools, families, and communities to engage in 60 minutes of PE, sport, and play.
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Pupils were involved in a Girls Active session where leaders from the student body taught sessions to younger years and PE classes using National School Sports Week resources.
It marked the start of a week dedicated to bringing attention to the need for children to spend 60 minutes active each day.
'National School Sports Week is an opportunity to shine a light on why it's important children are active and get those important messages across about not just physical health, but social wellbeing in the digital age,' said Oliver.
'Playing together physically is really important for the cognitive benefits, because sadly lots of adults will judge physical education on their own experiences.
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'Today's generation is a much more sedentary generation, and it's really important that the school day compensates for some of the time that young people are more sedentary in the rest of their lives.'
The annual campaign highlights and aims to change worrying statistics that indicate children are less active than ever.
Research shows that fewer than half (47%) of children are meeting the Chief Medical Officers' guidelines of engaging in an average of 60 minutes or more of sport and physical activity daily.
In Sunderland, where the week was launched 25% of children in reception are overweight or obese - and over 40% by Year 6.
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But the Youth Sport Trust are on a mission to change the direction of travel and transform the lives of young people through sport.
'[We want] to equip educators and empower young people so together they can create brighter futures through the power of play and sport,' explained Oliver.
'We have a wonderful vision, which is a future where every child enjoys the life-changing benefits of PE and sport.
'We also deliver a number of products and services which schools can use to help them think more creatively, whether it's about how they use their playground, or how they make their maths lessons more active.'
National School Sports Week is an annual campaign by the Youth Sport Trust, dedicated to celebrating the power of PE, sport, and play to build brighter futures. This year, powered by Sports Direct x Under Armour, marks the 30th anniversary of the Youth Sport Trust, who is a UK leading children's charity for improving young people's wellbeing through sport and play. Visit www.youthsporttrust.org.
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