Analysis: Exercise figure is a step in the right direction

THE two hours of PE figure is talked about a lot, but it has been suggested that at a younger age or at primary age children need 60 minutes of physical activity a day.

That 60 minutes, which is a gold standard really, wouldn’t necessarily have to be all PE. It could include play time at school or just walking.

But it is becoming increasingly clear that inactivity can lead to massive problems with children being overweight, with all sorts of knock-on effects in terms of poor health.

Senior school children probably need between 90 minutes and two hours of physical activity a day. Again that can be walking, or some other activity alongside PE at school.

But the two hours of PE promise is a real step in the right direction.

Another key issue is that we’re coming up to Scotland hosting the Commonwealth Games and it’s important that we try to establish a legacy in terms of sport and health. Improving access to PE in schools would be a key part of this.

There’s already work going on through Sport Scotland to look at how we can improve sporting development among children and young people.

One interesting model to look at could be that of the Australian Institute of Sport that seeks to identify sporting success among young people at an early stage.

• Daniel Shaw is the subject leader in sport and exercise at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.