The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is to issue guidance tomorrow (28 January) on promoting physical activity, active play and sport for young people.

Following recent NICE research showed that just 45 per cent of 15-year-old girls and 68 per cent of 15-year-old boys were reaching the recommended target of 60 minutes of moderate exercise a day, the organisation is making recommendations for the NHS and local authorities as well as parents and teachers.

In terms of national policy, NICE recommends that a five-year national campaign be launched to promote physical activity among children and young people, which should be integrated with other national health campaigns and strategies to increase participation in sport.

NICE also recommends that groups of local children and young people who are unlikely to participate in an hour’s worth of moderate exercise per day are identified and subsequently involved.

The organisation also recommended that a special focus be put on engaging girls in sport, by consulting with them to find out which kinds of physical activity they prefer, including non-competitive activities such as dance, aerobics and the gym.

Professor Mike Kelly, NICE’s public health excellence centre director, said: “Obesity rates in this country are rocketing and with the number of children not taking part in physical activity increasing, this problem can only get worse. Dealing with the long term consequences of obesity costs an estimated £2.5bn each year, placing a huge strain on the health service. It’s important that we let children play, and don’t let society’s aversion to risk stop young people from being physically active.

“This guidance supports the updated Department of Health ‘Physical activity action plan’ published earlier this month, making strategic and practical recommendations to promote physical activity to children and young people in a variety of settings and so will help to ensure that this frightening trend is halted.”