The former Great Britain sprinter Jason Gardener said it is sad and concerning that one in four children believe playing video games counts as exercise.
Research released this week by the Youth Sport Trust, the charitable organisation that coordinates school sport, warned that the sector is at a crossroads, 10 years after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics amid much talk of legacy.
The new report – Class of 2035 – discussed the potential ramifications technology could have on future youth participation and school sport in the next 20 years, and Gardener warned that further work is needed to educate children about the benefits of physical activity rather than video technology.
Gardener, speaking as an ambassador for the YST’s School Sport Week at St Katharine’s primary in Bournemouth, said: “It’s really concerning, if that’s what they perceive to be sport, and sad. Technology, digital technology, has transformed lives and can give us a massive quality difference. We find phones and tablets very useful.
“But we’ve got to make sure kids still have the opportunity to come outside in the fresh air and have fun, to keep obesity away. It’s [obesity] something that is at an all-time high and we are not being responsible – we need to educate children and parents as to the benefits of doing sport and PE, of eating healthy food and having an active lifestyle.”
A separate YST report earlier in the year found that the average number of minutes schoolchildren were participating in PE had fallen below two hours a week. Meanwhile the new sports minister, Tracey Crouch, has promised to rethink a new, unified sport policy following disappointing participation figures released by Sport England earlier this month.
Gardener, who won Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay at Athens 2004, added: “More PE is a no-brainer, you’ve got to make it happen. Physical activity increases performance in the classroom.”
