The UK Context of Fitness

This sign is opposite my house. In fact it’s one of two on two patches of green in our very quiet road. We have an obesity problem in the UK, a problem that has been made worse by the poor provision of PE and sport in the vast majority of our schools, the driving around of children who would have walked when I was younger, and the appeal of smartphones and tablets. When I was younger, schools were very focused on physical activities, often activities that pupils did not enjoy! Very few parents drove their children to school. In fact it was unusual for them to drive you anywhere unless they chose to! Requests for a lift were often knocked back with advice to walk or take a bus. In terms of indoor distractions we of course had the TV but we also had test cards and closedowns so even the most enthusiastic telly addict would have the opportunity to go out.

When you look at the No Ball Games sign it is a sign of intolerance towards children. To avoid noise, mischief and occasional carelessness we have said to children you aren’t welcome to be children. As a kid I played on patches of grass, in the streets and at local parks. Of these, only parks remain and even they are less common these days as more and more housing is built, housing out of the reach of most families with young children. The opportunities for children to exercise on a day to day basis are way more restrictive and restricted than they were in my childhood. Can we really be surprised that the first generation of adults who faced the problems I outlined, are often obese due to never developing the habit of exercising and are raising children who similarly have this lack of opportunity and resultant aversion to physical activity.

If we want to improve the fitness of society as a whole we need to remove signs like that.