The APPG
on a Fit & Healthy Childhood has released its 14th report: Mental Health
Through Movement and says that ‘movement is the mainspring for
children’s mental health’.
The
Association of Play Industries (API) has been delighted to contribute
significantly to the report, outlining how children are pulled indoors by the
power of digital culture and pushed away from outdoor play due to severe cuts
to playground provision.
API Chair Mark Hardy says: “Over 1100 parents responded to
our Play MustStay survey through Mumsnet telling us
loudly and clearly that this is an issue they are extremely worried
about.
“All
scientific evidence points to the fact that movement is vital for children’s
mental health and for normal, healthy development. We have now a
generation of children who are being deprived of free, unstructured, outdoor
play and as such, a troubled generation.
“Parents
know this instinctively. Over a quarter of those parents surveyed who
have children with mental health difficulties said that the lack of local
playgrounds had played a role in their children’s problems. This result
was replicated also for those children experiencing issues with their sleep.
“Frustratingly, one of the core solutions to the mental
health crisis is a simple and relatively cheap one: as most children live in
urban areas, playgrounds often represent their only opportunity for outdoor
play. Unless the alarming cuts to playground provision uncovered in
our Nowhere
To Play research are reversed, and more
playgrounds created to secure future outdoor play, the mental health crisis
will spiral yet deeper.
“There
is now an urgent need to restore outdoor play as the primary leisure activity
for children, replacing indoor, solitary and sedentary screen-based time.
Children sit for hours on end, not moving or socialising and this is having a
devastating impact on their mental and physical health.
“Our
research shows that, as early as age 8, children are starting to shun outdoor
play in favour of screen time, and by the ages of 10 to 12, 69% of them prefer
screens, with parents finding it difficult to persuade them to go
outside. There is a critical period when we have to ‘catch’ children and
imbue in them a sense that outdoor play is the norm, so ensuring that movement
becomes a lifetime habit.
“Free,
community playgrounds are absolutely key in this. We must not take them
for granted; once a playground is lost it is usually lost for good. As
the report points out, this is not about a nanny state interfering, it is about
empowering and supporting parents in their endeavours to raise fit and healthy
children, in body and mind. Playgrounds need to be abundant, accessible,
safe and convenient to truly meet the needs of communities.
“We are
calling upon the government for urgent and sustained funding for public
playground provision; a relatively modest investment now will pay great
dividends for this and generations to come.”
The API
is attending the launch of the report at the House of Commons this Wednesday 30
October.
