Chapter 2: Enabling children, girls and women to live their lives to the fullest

Women are less active than men. (Sport England. (2022) Gender. Encouraging more women to find their way into sport and physical activity is vital if we're to close the gender gap that exists. So how can we do this?) 

This gender gap has been shown to start in childhood and before adolescence, with girls being less active from a very young age. (Farooq MA, Parkinson KN, Adamson AJ et al. Timing of the decline in physical activity in childhood and adolescence: Gateshead Millennium Cohort Study. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018;52:1002-1006.) By the time children reach seven years of age, their level of physical activity starts to reduce. It's important to reach children before their teenage years to keep them interested in physical activity.

The most recent 'Active Lives Children and Young People Survey' 2020-21 highlighted that activity levels have started to fall among boys. In contrast, activity levels have started to increase slightly among girls. As a result, boys and girls were equally likely to be active across the 2020-21 academic year, with 45% of both boys and girls taking part in physical activity.
(Sport England. (2021). Active lives children and young people survey. Academic year 2020-21.)

The decrease over time in activity levels for boys was initially driven by the younger age groups slowly reducing physical activity levels. But over the last 12 months, the decrease has been seen more among older boys. The recent increases for girls have come from the younger age groups, while rates remain flat among secondary age girls.
(Sport England. (2021). Active lives children and young people survey. Academic year 2020-21.)

Another contribution to the changes in physical activity levels, with girls increasing slightly and boys reducing, is because of the gender impact from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Organised sports, which are a major contribution to boys' activity levels and disruption, haven't fully recovered. Other forms of activity, such as dance, Zumba and exercise classes carried on via online courses, enabling more girls to participate.
(Sport England. (2022). Gender. Encouraging more women to find their way into sport and physical activity is vital if we're to close the gender gap that exists. So how can we do this?)

 (Sport England 2021)

Nationally, Sport England's 'This Girl Can' campaign aims to close the gender gap by addressing the practical and emotional pressures that stop many girls and women from being as active as they would like. These include a lack of confidence and fear of being judged, as well as time restrictions.

Locally, we're also working to tackle those barriers. We want to adapt our physical activity offer to meet the needs of our people, providing more support along with our partners. By providing more affordable, inclusive and accessible ways to get active, incorporating new or emerging activities and targeting activities to specific groups, we are able to provide more opportunities for girls and women across Gateshead.