This report by the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol investigates participation in active after-school clubs and active travel to and from school at age 11 and estimates the average daily minutes of daily intensity in physical activity associated with active club attendance and active travel. The paper promotes the importance of physical activity and its association with improved physical and mental health among children, while also increasing engagement and knowledge of the theme in the field.
Through the use of primary data, authors found that boys and girls were equally likely to attend active after-school clubs. Boys were also more likely to travel to school using active measures. They also found that active travel was associated with an additional 4.7 min average moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity per journey for boys and 2.4 min for girls. The authors conclude that while the increased daily intensity in physical activity is small to moderate, active after-school clubs and active travel on multiple days of the week could make important contributions as part of complex interventions aimed at increasing population levels of physical activity in children.
