How getting young people into sport could save the UK millions

The contrast couldn’t be greater. Marathon runners smashing records, elite footballers pacing down the wing at Wembley, and then this headline: the UK is experiencing a sharp decline in healthy life expectancy.

New analysis from the Health Foundation shows that people in Britain are now spending less of their lives in good health, in stark contrast to most other rich nations. It’s a story that should shame us. We are also the most obese country in Western Europe and our mental health is in sharp decline, dramatically so in the most disadvantaged areas of the UK. The cost to the NHS and the nation is obvious.

The reasons are complex: poor eating, smoking, mobile phones and always the grinding impact of poverty. The need to address the situation is urgent. But how?

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We know that unhealthy lifestyles are embedded early. Sport England found participation in exercise by people aged 16 to 34 is lower than nine years ago. Children should be physically active for 60 minutes a day but only half of young people meet that target, it falls to 45% in the least affluent families.

Early experiences don’t just impact the young, they shape behavior for life. A recent Age UK report argued that formative experiences of sport, freezing PE lessons, cross countries and being picked last for teams, have put millions of middle-aged people off sport for a lifetime, leaving them self-conscious.

It’s not just a legacy of the past. Young people today are still dropping out of exercise. Sport England found 1.3 million teenage girls give up the sports they previously loved, citing lack of confidence, strict rules, kit required and the cost of and access to clubs.

OnSide’s Generation Isolation research shows young people are giving up out-of-school hobbies like sport because transport and fees are unaffordable. We found that while 85% of young people spend their free time on screens, just half (48%) participate in sports outside of school. Almost half (47%) told us screen-based activities make them happiest, while just 15% said sport  had the same effect.

How do we make physical activity more accessible and enticing for young people to avoid years of ill health in adulthood?

Part of the answer lies in youth clubs. At OnSide we see 60,000 eight to 19 year olds through the doors of our network of Youth Zones, built in disadvantaged parts of England, every year. Entry is 50p a night. Each of our clubs has a large sports hall, a well-equipped gym, boxing ring, climbing wall and football pitch. Funding comes from local businesses and philanthropists, with public money as well.

The magic ingredient is youth workers who have the time and training to encourage members to try sports they may not have encountered at school and to feel that anyone can be active, not just the sporty kids.

Youth clubs are spaces where physical activity isn’t about being the best or wearing the right kit. It’s about having fun with your mates.Whether it’s badminton, roller skating, weights, volleyball or wheelchair racing, young people can try something for ten minutes without pressure to stick at it  and often discover they love it.

Kiara, 18, a member of the Hive Youth Zone in the Wirral, told me: “Sport has massively built my confidence because it has shown me not to give up and to be more positive even if things don’t go well. I’ve tried things I wouldn’t have tried before and I have got really into playing football.

“I joined because I used to sit in my room on my phone all the time and it wasn’t good for my confidence. I didn’t interact with people. But the amazing staff have helped me try new things and pushed me out of my comfort zone.”

When someone like Kiara finds a sport they love and has a talent for in a youth club, they also have the facilities and encouragement they need to excel. For some, this leads them to national and international stages. Paris Olympic medalist Cindy Ngamba discovered her love of boxing at one of our Youth Zones, Bolton Lads and Girls Club. 

Success like this starts with giving young people a wide range of choice and focusing on fun in a supportive environment. Young people tell us the secret teenage codes that apply in school changing rooms and dictate what you’re willing to be seen doing, don’t hold in youth centres because there’s so much going on.

Our sessions are split into juniors and seniors so older members don’t dominate and girls-only nights give young women the opportunity to participate without feeling self-conscious.

The government is funding new and existing clubs through its national youth strategy. But if we are to invest in the health of the nation, we need schools to learn from youth workers, go bigger and bolder, and focus on fun, so all young people can access and stick to sport, saving the nation millions.

Jamie Masraff is CEO of youth charity OnSide.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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