Boys less active during Coronavirus lockdown because of the decline in team sports

Coronavirus has led to a health epidemic for boys because of the decline in team sports, Sport England figures show.

Young girls have been more active than boys during lockdown, with boys favouring team sports, which have been suspended due to social distancing measures, new data from Sport England has revealed.

Discussing the report, which is set to be released later today, Alison Donnelly, executive director at Sport England told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “Usually the gender gap between boys and girls activity is quite pronounced 51 per cent versus 43 per cent normally but some research we have out this week is that actually girls have been more active than boys during lockdown, which is fascinating.

“I suspect largely this is down to the fact that we know that boys tend to favour team sports and those aren’t available at the moment.”

Chris Wright, head of wellbeing at Youth Sport Trust, said this may be because traditionally team sports have been more “readily available” for boys than girls.

He said: “I know we’ve made some great ground with girls' access, particularly in football, but I think that sense of belonging and young boys using sport as a means for their friendship groups and social well-being has been lost during the lockdown.”

He added that the consequences of not being able to participate in team sports will be “significant” for boys' mental health as they rarely access traditional health services or well-being support.

“Some of the behaviours that some of our boys will have adopted during lockdown including poor eating, poor sleep, social isolation and lack of interaction with others will affect both the physical and their emotional well-being.

“I think the longer that boys are without that outlet and that social interaction through sport the more damaging it can be for their mental health,” he said.

He added that while boys may turn to screens and gaming platforms to interact with friends during lockdown the lack of physical activity can affect their “fitness, social capacity and their emotional regulation”.

Last week, Youth Sport Trust published a new report titled What About the Boys? amid increasing worries about mental health, anti-social behaviour and lack of achievement and aspirations among boys.

It found that 77 per cent of school exclusions in England were boys, while seven per cent of boys have a behavioural disorder, compared with five per cent of girls.

Black boys and white boys from low socio-economic backgrounds were least likely to perform well at GCSE level, it said.

The report argued that there is a need for greater targeting of sport and physical activity to improve wellbeing and achievement among young men.