Physical activity among secondary school pupils in Wales has increased, reversing a decline that started in 2017.  It is now comparable to pre-pandemic levels, according to new data on pupils in Wales from the results of the Schools Health Research Network (SHRN) health and well-being survey released today.

The Wales-focused SHRN survey is one of the biggest surveys of school pupils in the UK. Every two years it asks questions on a range of topics including mental well-being, substance use and school life. The latest survey was completed by nearly 130,000 learners in years 7 to 11, within 200 maintained secondary schools across Wales. 

SHRN is a collaboration between Public Health Wales, Cardiff University and Welsh Government. The results are included as part of a new update to the Secondary School Children’s Health and Well-being Dashboard, an easy-to-use tool which enables users like schools, government and local authorities to look at figures from SHRN surveys over time. The dashboard allows users to explore the data by different regions, ages, gender and family affluence, providing an opportunity to identify trends for adolescents in Wales.  

Nearly a quarter of boys (23 per cent) met the Chief Medical Officers’ national guideline of at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, an increase from 21 per cent in 2019 and 2021.  Among girls, 14 per cent met the current guidelines, which although low, has improved from 12 per cent in 2021. 

The survey also looked at young people’s experiences of bullying.  Almost 38 per cent of young people said that they had been bullied in the previous couple of months, up from 32 percent in 2021. Results are higher than ever previously reported in the survey with more than 40 per cent of girls being bullied compared to over 30 per cent of boys. 

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