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Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card 2016www.activehealthykidsscotland.co.uk

Active Healthy Kids Scotland was establishedin 2013, inspired by the example of the Active
Healthy Kids Canada Report Card, and theinternational Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance(www.activehealthykids.org).

The 2016 Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report
Card is the second Scottish report card, andit provides an accurate, critical, current, andcomprehensive assessment of the physicalactivity and health of Scottish children andadolescents.

The Report Card should be useful as an advocacy
tool, as the basis of public debate, policy

discussion and change, and research proposals.

The 10 health indicators are grouped into 2 categories:
Overall Physical Activity and Health Behaviours and Outcomes
1 Sedentary Behaviour		

2Overall Physical Activity		

4

Active and Outdoor Play		

6Diet

3 Active Transportation
5 Organised Sport
Participation
7 Obesity

Settings and Influences on Physical Activity and Health		
9 Community and theBuilt Environment

8Family And Peer 			
Influence		
10 National Policy, Strategy,		 and Investment

2016 REPORT CARD
Common to any report card are the grades. This
Scottish Report Card assigns grades to 10 indicatorsgrouped into 2 categories (see below).

C

We are succeeding with about half of ourchildren and adolescents (40 - 59%)

BDFINCaOver
Ph1-7haysivi o uc al A

rs ancod O ut

c t i vity a n d H e& 10esBelthA

We are succeeding with a large majority ofchildren and adolescents (80 - 100%)8, 9eaThe card grades are based on an assessment ofcurrent Scottish data for each indicator (published afterthe 2013 report card), judged against a benchmark (e.g.
an evidence-based recommendation), and determinedby the percentage of Scottish children and adolescents
meeting the benchmark.

and Influences
ontings
Setct
ical A ivity anh ysdHPllmalth

We are succeeding with well over half ofchildren and adolescents (60 - 79%).

We are succeeding with less than halfchildren and adolescents (20-39%)
We are succeeding with very few children
and adolescents (0-19%).
(Incomplete Grade). Where current Scottish
data were not available, or were inadequate
to assign a grade, or where there was nobenchmark.

Report Card Grades are assigned a ‘+’ if trends have
improved since the last report card, and a ‘–‘if there ismarked socio-economic inequality in the behaviour orhealth outcome, or if the behaviour or health outcome
has worsened since the last report card.
The grades provide a robust assessment of the ‘stateof the nation’, i.e. how we are doing as a country inpromoting physical activity and health among children
and adolescents in Scotland.

Overall Physical Activity and HealthBehaviours and Outcomes
Sedentary Behaviour(including recreational screen time: TV viewing, gaming, internet use)

1

2

3

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN www.sign.ac.uk) recommends that school-age children
and adolescents should spend no more than 2 hours per day/14 hours per week in recreational screen time, andthis is consistent with international recommendations.
On weekdays 64% of Scottish 11-15 year olds report more than 2 hours per day of TV alone, and this rises to
79% on weekends2014 HBSC Scotland. In addition to TV, electronic gaming exceeds 2 hours/day among 65% of boys
and 46% girls on weekdays, rising to 78% of boys and 57% of girls at weekends2014 HBSC Scotland.
Grade is the same as 2013 report cardFOverall Physical Activity

FActive Transportation to School and Nursery

CAmong 11-15 year olds, only 21% of boys and 15% of girls2014 HBSC Scotland met the Scottish, UK, and international
recommendation of at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity of at least moderate intensity.
Grade is the same as 2013 report card

Multiple sources of data suggest that around half of Scottish nursery and primary school children regularly
commute actively (walking, cycling, using scooter or skateboard) to nursery/school, and 40-45% of those at
secondary school regularly commute activelyHBSC Scotland 2014; Scottish Household Survey 2014; National Travel Survey 2014; Hands Up Scotland 2014.
Grade is the same as 2013 report card

Overall Physical Activity and HealthBehaviours and Outcomes

45Active and Outdoor Play
63% of Scottish 2-15 year olds participated in ‘active play indoors or outdoors’ for at least 30 minutes at least 5 days aweekScottish Health Survey 2014. With no specific measure of active outdoor play, in the absence of a recommendation for active
play, and given the F grades for sedentary behaviour and overall physical activity, this indicator is difficult to grade.
Grade is the same as 2013 report card

Organised Sport Participation
This indicator could not be graded because no survey measured participation in sport specifically.
Grade is the same as 2013 report card

Diet

6Only 10%National Diet & Nutrition Survey 2014 to14%Scottish Health Survey 2014 of children and adolescents met the ‘5 a day’ recommendation
for fruit and vegetables; intakes are lowest among the most socio-economically deprivedNational Diet & Nutrition Survey 2014.
Average sugar intake exceeded recommendations sub-stantiallyNational Diet & Nutrition Survey 2014; Active Healthy Kids Scotland 2013.
Average intake of saturated fat (13%) exceeded the 11% of energy intake recommended.

National Diet & Nutrition Survey 2014

Grade is the same as 2013 report cardObesity

7

Multiple data sources suggest that levels of obesity among children and adolescents are higher than at any time in ourhistory. Conservative estimates show that at least 17% of 2-15 year olds were obese (BMI at or above the 95th centile
derived from UK data in 1990) in 2014, and obesity is much more common among children and adolescents who are
more socio-economically deprivedScottish Health Survey 2014.
Prevalence of overweight and obesity among toddlers and pre-school children is particularly highNational Diet and Nutrition Survey 2014.
Grade is the same as 2013 report card

INC

INC

DF-

Settings and Influences on
Physical Activity and HealthFamily and Peer Influence

8Conservative estimates show that 28% of adults were obese and 65% either overweight or obese in 2014,and obesity is more common among the socio-economically deprivedScottish Health Survey 2014. Only 20% of Scottishadults reported meeting the ‘5 a day’ fruit and vegetable intake recommendationScottish Health Survey 2014.
Child and adolescent norms are extremely high for sedentary behaviour (indicator 1) and low for moderatevigorous-intensity physical activity (indicator 2), so peer influence is unlikely to encourage physical activity.

Grade is the same as 2013 report card

D-Community and the Built Environment(Perceived safety, access, and availability of space for physical activity)

9

89% of Scottish 13-15 year olds felt safe in their local area most or all of the time HBSC Scotland 2014

59% of Scottish 13-15 year olds felt they had good places to spend their time locallyHBSC Scotland 2014

91% of households with 6-12 year olds had access to at least 1 local play areaScottish Household Survey 2014

62% of parents of 6-12 year olds felt that local playgrounds were safe for their children to play alone (lowerperceived safety in more deprived areas)Scottish Household Survey 2014

B

Grade is the same as 2013 report card

National Policy, Strategy, and Investment (Including Schools)

Physical activity and health is given great emphasis in national policy, strategy, and investment.

10

Many of the Health Behaviours and Outcomes (indicators 1-7) and the Settings & Influences on those healthbehaviours and outcomes (indicators 8 & 9) are the focus of national policies, investments and/or targets forimprovement; there is increasing emphasis on policy implementatione.g. More Active Scotland; Active Scotland Outcome Framework;
National Performance Framework.
Grade is the same as 2013 report card

B

Methodology and Detailed Findings
The grades are based on data which are recent (published after the 2013 report card),
representative, and affected by minimal bias (large biases would reduce confidence
in the prevalence estimates used to grade the indicators). Our website (www.
activehealthykidsscotland.co.uk) gives more information on the process of identifying data,assigning grades, and references. Two documents provide these details: the ‘Longform
Active Healthy Kids Report Card 2013’ describes the methodology, the ‘Longform Active
Healthy Kids Report Card 2016’ lists all the data sources considered for the 2016 report card,
has more information on the findings of each survey, describes problems with measurement
methods which explain why a number of data sources could not be used to inform the grades,
and has links to the surveys we considered when informing the grades.
We consulted on the draft grades in May 2016, and a summary of the consultation responses,
and our comments on them, is also provided on the project website.
An academic publication based on the Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card 2016 will be
published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health in 2016.

Next Steps
We will make comparisons of Scottish Report Card with report cards from around 40 othernations. There will be an international report card in November 2016 (www.activehealthykids.
org).
We plan to produce Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Cards every two years, harmonisingpublication with the other report cards internationally. Please contact Prof John J Reilly of
the University of Strathclyde (john.j.reilly@strath.ac.uk) for further information.

Acknowledgements
This card was produced with funding from Inspiring Scotland (www.inspiringscotland.org.uk) and
The Robertson Trust (www.therobertsontrust.org.uk), charities with particular interests in promoting
physical activity and play, and encouraging more evidence-based public policy. Production of thecard was a partnership between the University of Strathclyde (Prof John J Reilly, Dr Adrienne
Hughes, Avril Johnstone) and the University of Aberdeen (Prof Geraldine McNeill), We are gratefulfor the contributions of the large number of stakeholders for their comments on the work.