According to doctors, children with poor outdoor opportunities at school are more likely to have lifelong health problems.
Doctors have cautioned that the UK child obesity crisis is being worsened by a truly alarming lack of access to space at schools.
Obesity in children is already a serious public health issue. In England, one in three primary school-age children is overweight or obese and faces a higher risk of serious health problems and dying prematurely.
However, medical professionals and public health specialists claim that poor access to playing fields and playgrounds at state schools is contributing to the worsening and broader health inequalities leading to thousands of children becoming overweight or obese.
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There is over ten times more outdoor space available to children attending the top 250 English private schools than those in public schools. Meanwhile, children in state schools are facing a massive loss of space and outdoor time, with specialists cautioning that the problem may be linked to children experiencing mental health difficulties.
According to Dr. Kath McCullough, the Royal College of Physicians’ special consultant on obesity, there is “no doubt” that a lack of access to green space and the gap between public and private schools was worsening the crisis.
This massive gap in school access to open space is another of the healthcare inequalities facing young people. Too many children may be growing up in an environment that is not good for their long-term health development.
The Guardian reported last year that a government-commissioned analysis warned that the minister’s decision to postpone anti-obesity efforts until 2025 would likely result in children developing life-changing, avoidable health problems.
According to McCollough, the persistently high rate of childhood obesity is “extremely concerning,” and unequal access to green space in schools “compounds that worry.”
In England, more than one in five children between the ages of ten and eleven are living with obesity. Furthermore, it is expected that children with obesity are significantly more likely to live with obesity in adulthood. As a result, they are more vulnerable to developing diabetes and heart issues at an earlier age.
If schools have limited outdoor space, they can only provide organized games. Sports like tennis, rugby, netball, football, and hockey, for instance, all require large areas to play. None of these are available in urban schools.
According to Applebee, students who are unable to study and participate in team sports are less likely to continue with the activities after school, which can increase their chance of becoming overweight adults.
Children who are just 32m2 miss out on this. They don’t expect to exercise because it is unpleasant and they are not used to it. This becomes a lifelong attitude toward exercise and weight gain.”
Prof. Stephen Holgate, the special adviser on air quality for the Royal College of Physicians, warned that children’s risk of obesity was rising due to inadequate access to green space in schools, which also allowed for increased exposure to air pollution.
It is extremely concerning that state schools lack open green space. Air pollution, particularly in urban environments, has serious health effects and is a terrible problem. Children are particularly vulnerable, with clear evidence of poor lung growth, respiratory infections, and asthma.
Schools with open spaces can offer much-needed relief from potentially extremely unhealthy environments for children whose homes are in densely populated, built-up areas. Without it, children can miss out on benefits such as higher IQs, less obesity and blood pressure, better mental and physical health, and enhanced lung and vascular health.
“To protect the next generation, optimizing children’s access to open green spaces, especially for those who do not have such spaces at home, must become a greater public health priority.”
