The Commonwealth Games are here and children’s charity the Youth Sport Trust is launching a mini campaign to support families to keep moving over the school summer holidays.

While 83% of parents believe that sport and play are important parts of every young person’s education and development, only 36% are aware of the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance that children should be active for 60 minutes a day on average over the course of a week. Twenty-four percent of parents believe it to be 30 minutes or less. The guidelines differ for children and young people who have a disability. 

The charity said a lack of parental awareness is a problem because 2.4 million young people are active for less than 30 minutes per day while it is seeing rapidly rising rates of childhood obesity and children experiencing poor mental wellbeing. 

While the competition takes place for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the charity is making free daily, bite sized ideas available to help children keep moving by breaking down 60 active minutes a day into short bursts of activity.