Sport England has published a new report that shows there is “strong and consistent evidence that sport and physical activity interventions had positive effects on the diagnosed mental health problems of children and young people”.
Released on World Mental Health Day, ‘Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Physical Activity’ has been produced by Edge Hill University.
Previous research has shown the positive impact of being active on children’s general wellbeing, but there had been little documented evidence on the role of sport and physical activity in the treatment of diagnosed mental health conditions in children and young people.
Sport England commissioned Edge Hill to undertake an independent evidence review, in which they collated and reviewed existing research from across 143 studies to assess the strength of evidence.
A consistent picture emerged of the effectiveness of different types of exercise in treating and managing young people’s mental health conditions.