County young more active, report shows

Friday 3rd July 2009, 9:59AM BST.

Children in Telford & Wrekin are more physically active than youngsters across the country, a new Government report has revealed.

The borough has more children undertaking regular exercise than the average for England.

But the area also performs poorly on some key health indicators.

Ninety-four per cent of five to 16-year-olds in Telford & Wrekin spend at least two hours a week on high quality PE and school sport compared with 90 per cent nationally.

The report also shows that in Telford & Wrekin early death rates from heart disease, stroke and cancer have fallen, but remain above the national average. However, the gap appears to be narrowing.

Borough teenage pregnancy rates have also declined over the last year but remain above average.

The percentage of obese children has also fallen but remains “relatively high”.

The results have been published as part of the annual Health Profiles of England, funded by the Department of Health and produced by the Association of Public Health Observatories.

The report aims is to help local government and primary care trusts to tackle health inequalities.

Dr Catherine Woodward, director of public health for NHS Telford and Wrekin, the borough’s primary care trust, said: “The news that children are increasing their physical activity is extremely encouraging, as is seeing the levels of early death fall and life expectancy improve.”

View more: Telford & Wrekin news.