𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Britain has become a nation where children can scroll on a smartphone but not throw a ball, according to a major report which warns that screen-time is replacing playtime. Alarming new research shows the poorest children are hit hardest by obesity and mental ill-health with half of primary school pupils failing to meet basic activity levels.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found young children are more likely to own a smartphone than be able to throw a ball.

South Cotswolds MP Roz Savage, the only woman to row solo across the Atlantic, Pacific and India oceans, said: “Embedding physical activity into the primary school day is essential if we are serious about saving the next generation from poor physical health. We must do more to open up opportunities for children to be active, including through better access to nature.”

Former education minister Lord Nash, who is at the forefront of the fight to ban under-16s from social media, said: “This report should be a wake-up call. We are raising a generation of children who can swipe before they can throw, scroll before they can run, and who are paying the price in their physical and mental health.”

A teacher told a charity which works with the CSJ: “I’ve got two children [in my class] who physically cannot sit on the carpet. They don’t have core strength.”

Pupils who will sit their SATs this month are spending three hours a day online – the equivalent of more than a month each year – according to the think tank.

Lord Nash said: “Children need to be off their phones and outside – playing, moving, building the strength and resilience that an active childhood provides.”

Fewer than half of English 10-year-olds meet a “basic level of competence in throwing a ball” while more than seven in 10 now own a smartphone, the CSJ warns. Its report, Inactive Nation, sounds the alarm that only a small minority of children are mastering the basic movement skills needed to participate with confidence in sport.

Just over two million children are “insufficiently active” – getting less than an hour of at least moderate physical activity a day. The report claims swapping just 15 minutes of daily screen time for outdoors play would see an estimated 300,000 primary school pupils hit the recommended activity level.

The CSJ is calling a “new school activity standard” to embed physical activity in schools. It wants new rules so education regulator Ofsted will judge schools on what they are doing to promote physical development.

Ben Miller, an analyst with the CSJ, said: “Our education system has not kept pace with a world where screens are taking over everyday life. Politicians must empower teachers to reduce sedentary behaviour and create an active culture within schools. Combined with improving access to outdoor play outside of school hours, we can finally provide children the opportunities they deserve.”

Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said: “Labour must wake up to the screen creep happening in classrooms and help parents in the fight against big tech. That’s why Conservatives have fought so hard to ban smartphones from schools and get children off social media.”

A Government spokesperson said: “These findings highlight the scale of the challenge we face in ensuring children lead healthy, active lives. For too long, access to the best physical activity and sporting opportunities has been a postcode lottery for young people. Our new ‘partnerships’ approach will put an end to this, working with schools, local clubs and national governing bodies to improve access to sport and turn the dial on inactivity. This builds on wider work to support children and young people to develop healthy relationships with technology, including through our new guidance to help families build good screen habits from a young age, banning mobile phones in schools and consulting on the next measures on online safety for children.