LONDON, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A call for a new national plan in Britain to encourage a higher take up of sport is needed to tackle inactivity among the population, a committee of politicians said in a report recently.
The House of Lords Committee on a National Plan for Sport and Recreation said little progress has been made in tackling levels of inactivity, particularly among women and girls, disabled people, ethnic minorities, the elderly and people from less affluent backgrounds.
Phil Willis, chair of the committee, said the legacy of the 2012 London Olympics did not deliver the promise of a more active population, with latest figures showing activity levels have declined since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report shows the numbers of people engaging in sport once a week rose by just 1.5 percent after the London Olympics, from 34.6 percent to 36.1 percent.
Those engaging in sport three or more times a week rose by 1.9 per cent, from 15.6 per cent to 17.5 per cent. Over the same period the number of people volunteering, coaching or officiating in sports declined.
The latest Active Lives survey for 2021 shows that 39.1 percent of adults are active for fewer than 150 minutes each week, Friday's report added.
"To make the changes we need it is time for a new national plan for sport, health and wellbeing. That plan needs to be ambitious and coordinated, and carry the weight of the government and Prime Minster (Boris Johnson) behind it," said Willis.
He said the committee wanted responsibility for sport policy to move to the Department of Health, driven by a new Minster for Sport, Health and Wellbeing. Currently sports comes under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
The committee's report also said PE (physical education) should become a core national curriculum subject in British schools.
The committee found that PE was not valued highly enough in schools with inadequate teacher training time focused on PE and physical literacy, particularly for primary school teachers.
The committee said it was shocked to hear many primary school teachers receive only a few hours' training focused on PE during their teacher training courses.
"Schools and colleges should be encouraged to develop closer links with local sports clubs to tackle drop-out from physical activity that often occurs when people leave full time education. Our report sets out a number of key priorities and themes that could form the basis of the new national plan and make a real difference to activity levels across the country," read the report. Enditem
