Tackling Obesity in England - National Audit Office

TACKLING OBESITY IN ENGLAND24Intersecting policy objectives and key initiatives to promote sport in schoolsDepartment of HealthTo improve healthand reduce healthinequalitiesTo promote andfacilitateactive leisurePE in the curriculumPersonal, Social and Health EducationHealth Schools ProgrammeTo teach young people aboutthe benefits of physcial activityTo encourage young people tobe active by participating insports within andbeyond schoolTo encourage youngpeople to acquire skills andparticipate in school sportDepartment forEducation and EmploymentTo ensure young peoplereach 16 with the skills,attitudes and personalqualities to give them asecure foundation forlifelong learning, workand citizenshipDepartment forDepartment forCulture, Media and Sportthe Environment,To improve quality of life forTransport & the Regionsall through cultural andTo reduce reliance on carssporting activitiesand make it easier to walkMore participation in sportand cycleby more peopleSports Action ZonesSpecialist Sports CollegesSports Co-ordinatorsSports Mark AwardSporting AmbassadorsSource:National Audit Officepart four4.47 The primary aim of physical education in the curriculumis to increase pupils' physical competence andconfidence in a range of physical activities. It can equippupils with the skills to take part in physical activityoutside school and foster positive attitudes to physicalactivity. Schools also provide an important setting forparticipation in physical recreation through extracurricularactivities.4.48 Physical activity specialists have raised concerns inrecent years about a decline in the time spent onphysical education and extra-curricular sport in schools.These concerns were based on evidence that in manyschools the priority attached to physical education hadfallen, and that in some schools pupils were spendingless than an hour a week in sports lessons. Theimportance of providing opportunities for physicalactivity in school was emphasized by the finding fromthe National Diet and Nutrition Survey, published in2000 18 , that most young people were inactive, asindicated by time spent in moderate or vigorousactivities. Girls were less active than boys, and activitylevels fell with increasing age within the range surveyed(young people between the ages of 7 and 18).4.49 In launching a review of the National Curriculum in1999, the Secretary of State for Education andEmployment announced the Government's intention toaddress these concerns, and made it clear that twohours of physical activity a week should be an aspirationfor all schools. The Department for Education andEmployment is working with other departments, inparticular through the Inter-Ministerial Group toImprove Children's Diet and Activity, to increaseopportunities to participate in sport, both through theformal curriculum and in the wider school setting.4.50 To enhance physical education in the curriculum, theDepartment for Education and Employment hasincreased from September 2000 the range of physicalactivities available through the curriculum to pupilsaged between 14 and 16. The high number of pupils inthis age group who were opting out of school sports ledthe Department to consult physical activity specialists inthe other departments and elsewhere on ways toencourage wider participation. This consultationsuggested that alternatives to competitive team sportswould be more attractive to many pupils. Thus, bybroadening the range of activities schools can offerthrough the curriculum, the Department hopes toencourage young people, who might not otherwise havedone so, to participate in different forms of physicalrecreation.42