HE1.2
Increased Children’s Physical Activity
Health
- Physical Health
Increased Children’s Physical Activity
“Increased Childrens Physical Activity” usually means that children are doing more movement that raises their heart rate and uses their muscles than they were before, and closer to or above recommended levels for their age. Government policy aims that children and young people should get 30 minutes of their daily physical activity through the school day and 30 minutes outside of school.
If you are using this as an outcome in a programme or evaluation, it typically means demonstrating a measurable increase in duration and/or frequency of children’s physical activity compared with a baseline or a comparison group.
Key Value
A monetised social value of £4,300
Monetised social value of being active (an average of 60 minutes or more a day) rather than being less active for 1 young person over 1 year in 2024 prices.
In 2024, State of Life, collaborating with Sheffield Hallam University, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the London School of Economics (LSE), developed a new national social value model for Sport England. The model assesses the health and wellbeing gains from physical activity, showing how these advantages differ across various population groups.
This report is aligned with HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance and uses the underlying WELLBY measure and methodology (C-WELLBY) developed by LSE and State of Life. Details of C-WELLBY can be found in PW2 Improved Children’s Wellbeing. This work builds on the following information:
- One WELLBY, equivalent to a one- point increase on the 0–10 life satisfaction scale, is valued at £15,900 (in 2024 prices).
- Using robust multiple regression models, the study estimates the impact of physical activity on life satisfaction.
- Use of the newly developed Child-WELLBY enables valuation for children aged 7+ in physical activity.
The categories in the study are named as:
- Active (an average of 60 minutes or more a day)
- Fairly active (an average of 30-59 minutes a day)
- Less active (less than an average of 30 minutes a day).
Activities which are included under each of the composite activity groupings used in the report are available in here.
Details of the report are included in the Social value of sport and physical activity 2023-24 – primary report.
After controlling various factors, they find a 0.269 difference in life satisfaction for 11-16 year-olds who are active (an average of 60 minutes or more a day) compared to those who are less active.
The average value for children and young people aged 11-16 who are ‘active’ is worth £4,300 a year in 2024 prices.
Local Needs Analysis Data Source:
Before using this MeasureUp value, we encourage you to assess the local need in relation to the activity or outcome.
Here is the most useful initial data source for assessing local needs in relation to this value.
To assess local needs related to the value HE1.2 ‘Increased Children’s Physical Activity’, you can use the Level of activity (Children and Young People) indicator from Sport England. This data reflects how frequently young people participate in sports, play, and other physical activities.
It is available at the local authority, region, and active partnership levels and is updated annually. This indicator helps identify areas where young people may lack opportunities or access to active, enriching extracurricular experiences.
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Multiply the proportion of your participants you expect to report increased physical activity (being active (an average of 60 minutes or more a day) rather than being less active) over the course of a year by £4,300.
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Consider what frequencies of physical activity you might shift people from and to, age of the children and demographic subgroups. Therefore, you can calculate an estimate of the overall shift, by applying the appropriate WELLBY values.
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At Gold level you are looking to build on your silver estimations by engaging with the person or people affected. (for people related values)
Gold+
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Gold+ level, you are building on your Gold value calculation by assessing the value against the counterfactual, or ‘what would have happened anyway’.
| Value Type: | Outcome |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, others are specific interventions that have a set value. |
|---|---|---|
| UN SDG Categories: |
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What's this?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are global goals adopted in 2015 for all signed up nations to achieve for us to have a sustainable global future by 2030. There are 17 Goals that address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. |
| 2020 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts introduced the Central Government Social Value Model in 2020 which all Central Government contracting authorities must use in their in scope procurements. It consists of 5 themes, 8 policy outcomes, and 24 Model Award Criteria which outline key priority areas to achieve more social value. |
| 2025 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 was superseded by PPN 002 Taking account of social value in the award of contracts, published in February 2025 in line with the Royal assent of the Procurement Act 2023. This PPN outlined the requirement to use the new 2025 Central Government Social Value Model. The Model applies to all Central Government procurements commencing on or after 1 October 2025 under the Procurement Act 2023. Out of scope procurements can choose to apply the model but are not required to do so. The updated model is structured around 5 government missions and 8 outcomes, with 17 Model Award Criteria, and a mandatory minimum 10% weighting of the total evaluation score assigned to social value. |
Evidence
Measure Up focuses on empowering you to numerically measure the impact you’re having. We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeking consent from participants in your intervention to collect and tell their story. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of, and after, the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artefacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music from creative interventions) can add more to the story, and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online you should do so promptly and without need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is an open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring and valuing social value, including wellbeing, economic, and fiscal impact, and effects on our environment, please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help, or just someone to do the legwork for you we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having and value you are creating.
