Time spent outside by children - an ONS report.

The Office for National Statistics has produced a useful report exploring the time that different groups of young people spend outside. The data can be viewed and dowloaded, as can the report.
One of the worrying findings is just how little time children spend outside, particularly in places which are more 'natural' and offer fresh air and exercise, and a sense of exploration and going somewhere new...
It seems that, as reported in the press release for the OS Get Outside Champions project, that we are fighting to change the sedentary lifestyle of many which is threatening to reduce the UK's life expectancy.
Today, we have low rates of take-up for exercise, and poor diets. There have been several front pages of the Independent recently, which have painted a gloomy picture of health generally.

There are plenty of geographical connections here of course. This was also part of our reasoning for the development of Mission:Explore.

I will be working with the rest of my Ordnance Survey #GetOutside Champions to promote the benefits of getting outside, and producing some resources related to the use of OS mapping, including Digimap for Schools.

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