Kiwi kids are turning their backs on sport, so what’s being done to keep them active? - One Day You’ll Thank Me

Welcome to season five of the Herald’s parenting podcast: One Day You’ll Thank Me. Join parent and host Jenni Mortimer as they navigate the challenges and triumphs of parenting today with help from experts and well-known mums and dads from across Aotearoa.

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Kiwi kids are increasingly turning their backs on organised sport and are simply less active than they once were.

Given the growing body of research showing the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, officials behind the scenes are looking at new ways to keep Kiwi kids active.

One such official is Jacqueline Collins, a play advocate at Auckland Council, who recently joined the One Day You’ll Thank Me podcast to explain the importance of keeping young ones active.

Play is fundamental when it comes to the development of young children, says Collins.

“There’s a weight of evidence from various pieces of research that children are playing less and less, and that the problem we need to combat, both because of good physical health and mental wellbeing.”

In her role with Auckland Council, she works in partnership with Sport New Zealand to ensure that young New Zealanders remain active.

This comes amid a significant shift in society, which has seen many Kiwi kids turn away from organised sport.

Despite this behavioural change, Collins says there’s still a massive amount society can do to ensure kids are still active and playing in different ways.

“We’ve got 950 playgrounds across Auckland, which is a colossal number. We also do play activations and we’ve got 56 libraries that do amazing play every single week. But what more can we do? How can we design it into the way that our streets look and the way that our town centres function? How can we make sure that whenever we put on an event or a festival, there’s a play element to make it an attractive thing for kids as well?”

Collins jokes that she sometimes feels like she’s become a children’s rights activist because of the work she’s putting in behind the scenes.

“I spend a lot of my time saying that we’re not talking to anybody aged under 15 and they have as much right to have a say in how the city operates as the grown-ups do.

Any parent who has taken their child out with them recently will know that most cities aren’t designed for kids - sometimes making it difficult to find any way to entertain them.

So what’s the answer to this conundrum? What else can be done? And what effect does a lack of play have on the mental health of younger Kiwis?

Listen to the full episode of the podcast to hear more on this fascinating issue.

• Listen to today’s episode of One Day You’ll Thank Me below for more on trying to find that work-life balance.
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