Huge number of children never swim, ride a bike or run about, finds new study
A quarter of British children have never run more than 400m, a new study has claimed. It also found that 10% of children can’t ride a bike and 15% haven’t learned to swim, leading experts to complain we are raising a nation of couch potatoes.
Nearly 80% of the 1,500 children aged 6 to 15 claimed they spent their free time watching TV, while only 34% said they played sports.
Less active pastimes were generally favoured over sporting activities, with 56% of children preferring to surf the internet and 43% playing video games.
The survey, by Tata Steel and British Triathlon also found that although 75% of children own a bike, more own a games console (77%).
To help get your children more active, find out what’s going on at sports centres, water parks and play centres in your area. And try our top 10 ways to get active on a budget.
