Alarming health figures in Doncaster proves why Active Fusion’s work is needed
With many children failing to meet the required activity levels in England, the work being done by Active Fusion is proving to be even more crucial, according to Director of Public Health Rupert Suckling.
In May 2019, Doncaster was ranked as the 39th most inactive place in England, against all 317 Local Authorities, showing a need for more physical activity among schools, the workforce and across communities.
Official figures showed that Doncaster has some of the lowest physical activity levels in the country, with almost a third of adults doing less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week, while child obesity rates are rising.
Since that time, Active Fusion and a host of other organisations have increased their delivery of Physical Education and activity in Doncaster, aiming to create a more active community.
As improvements are being made, organisations like Active Fusion will continue to have a big part to play in maintaining and sustaining provisions to keep children active, as expressed by Dr Rupert Suckling.
He said: “The figures are positive for Doncaster with significant increases in the Active categories and significant decreases in the Less Active groups.
“Despite a relatively high level of investment and focus on opportunities for children and young people, levels of inactivity in children and young people remain persistently low.
“We have recently collaborated with the Children and Families Board, to investigate what is affecting activity levels across the whole system in Doncaster. Work is due to start to identify and lead the necessary system changes to impact behaviour change.”
Active Fusion are a charity striving to enable children and young people in Yorkshire to be physically active, through its delivery of high-quality Physical Education lessons in schools, giving young people the opportunity to enhance their qualifications, confidence and communication.
The Active Fusion team
Director of Active Fusion Lindsy James added: “We have a massive epidemic of young people that aren’t active.
“The knock-on effect of that is 1 in ten young people have mental health issues such as stress, depression or anxiety.
“We’re seeing that right from 5 years old – so it’s a real issue that we have.”
The charity works with schools across the borough to help them encourage their pupils into being more active.