The Fourth Children’s and Youth Sports Report

Our commitment: The Fourth German Children’s and Youth Sports Report

The Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation has been supporting a sustainable approach to children’s and youth sports for many years already. In 2003, it initiated the Children’s and Youth Sports Report, which outlines the current situation in children’s and youth sports and provides recommendations for action for politicians, associations, clubs and schools. Since then, thematic focus topics such as children’s and youth sports in transition or exercise and sports for children up to the age of twelve have been intensively explored. The Fourth German Children’s and Youth Sports Report was published in October of 2020. The report focuses on the topics of performance, health and society. It highlights current issues, such as the positive effect of sports on children with chronic illnesses or the concept of physical literacy as a holistic approach to promoting physical activity in children, in which not only participation and motor skills but also motivation and self-efficacy are brought together.

Panel discussion on the topic of “Children’s and Youth Sport” on 29 October 2020

With Prof. Dr. Christoph Breuer, Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen, Pauline Grabosch, Tim Reichert and Alfons Hörmann in a live stream, moderated by Julia Scharf.

Panellists

Julia Scharf | Sports journalist and TV moderator

Pauline Grabosch | Professional
track cyclist

Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen | Medical
doctor, TV moderator, cabaret artist & book author

Tim Reichert | Managing Director FC Schalke 04 Esports GmbH

Prof. Dr. Christoph Breuer | Sports
economist, sports sociologist, university professor

Alfons Hörmann | President
of the German Olympic Sports Confederation

Core topics of the Fourth German Children’s and Youth Sports Report

The Fourth German Children’s and Youth Sports Report focuses on the topics of “Performance, Society, Health”. Over the last five years, a decline in performance-orientation in children’s and youth sports has been observed – both in school sports as well as in sports clubs. But: Without competition, rules, sport-specific skills and performance-orientation, sports lose their raison d’être for children and adolescents. In addition, children and young people are growing up in a constantly changing social environment, e.g. they are confronted with a dynamically increasing range of digital media and games. Even though research into the effects on children’s and youth sports is still in its infancy, the sedentary behaviour directly associated with media consumption and the resulting low energy expenditure appear to be problematic. The health consequences of declining sporting behaviour among children and adolescents are serious, which is why promoting physical activity among children is of great importance. Physical literacy is a holistic approach to promoting (children’s) physical activity that includes participation, motor skills and aptitudes as well as motivation and self-efficacy.

Thematic focus: Performance

For children and adolescents, comparing their performance in sports is a matter of course. Sports are far more than just exercise – it is also the pursuit of competition in which we measure ourselves against others and against ourselves. This core idea of sports already plays an important role in childhood and adolescence. This way, children can playfully feel out their own limits in competition with others and learn that their own performance and effort can lead to tangible success. Scientific studies also show that: For children, it is a matter of course to compete with others in sports and to compare their performance. After all, even learning types of sports is linked to a performance component. The idea of performance goes hand in hand with the consideration of individual endurance limits.

Our ambassador Pauline Grabosch

“To me, the idea of competition is fundamental to getting ahead. But even outside of professional sports, a conscious focus on performance is important for the sporting development of children and adolescents. In this manner, children and adolescents gain enjoyment from sports.”

Thematic focus: Society

Children playing football on the football pitch, racing each other on the school playground or letting off steam in the swimming pool – sports have always played a major role in the lives of adolescents. However, the framework conditions have changed in the meantime – be it that daycare centres and kindergartens are attended at an early age and all day, the changed structure of the school system, the emergence of new leisure activities and digital networking through smartphones and social networks. The question therefore arises as to what extent these developments influence children’s and youth sports and the relative importance of sports. The changed framework conditions are leading to a decline in everyday activities. As a result, children are spending time in institutions such as day-care centres and primary schools at an ever earlier age and for longer periods, where they spend more time sitting down. Today, more than 80 % of adolescents already no longer achieve the 45 minutes of daily exercise called for by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In addition, the shortage of (sports) teaching staff has increased, while the share of sports and swimming lessons in the school curriculum has decreased. At the same time, the digital options available to children and adolescents have been steadily increasing, so that they are demonstrably spending more and more time on digital activities.

Our ambassador Tim Reichert

“Digitalisation is having a major impact on young people’s everyday lives. As a phenomenon of digitalisation, eSports has now established itself alongside traditional sports. I know that the topic is being discussed controversially – but I personally am convinced that eSports can also generate enthusiasm for sports in general and that therein lies a potential that we can utilise.”

Despite these developments, sports remain the number one leisure activity for children and adolescents outside of school. At this stage of life, sports are mainly practised in clubs, which can go hand in hand with social recognition as well as a strengthening of self-esteem and self-efficacy. However, access to the active pursuit of sports and to membership of a sports club is increasingly dependent on the social background of the family. Studies show that children from socially disadvantaged families are less active, have more health problems (e.g. overweight/obesity and chronic illnesses) and are less likely to be members of clubs, both in sports as well as in the cultural sector.

The reduction in leisure time due to longer childcare and school hours and a growing focus on digital media are therefore detrimental to the promotion of exercise, play, sports and ultimately health. For these reasons, exercise in everyday life must be promoted more strongly once again and children and adolescents must be challenged in the area of sports. This can be achieved, on the one hand, by making neighbourhoods more exercise-friendly, for example by developing safe cycle paths and functionally designed green spaces that invite people to be physically active. Beyond that, however, it seems even more important to strengthen the importance of exercise, play and sports in the school context: by returning to more PE lessons and by extending exercise breaks, afternoon study group programmes, as well as more qualified staff and compulsory swimming lessons.

Thematic focus: Health

Sports are healthy, sports keep you healthy, sports are important for the healthy development of children and adolescents. All true, but why are fewer and fewer children and adolescents doing them then? Why are our children becoming increasingly sedentary and fat? This question is most often answered with “playing games”. But is that really the case? And how can this development be counteracted? Children have a natural urge to move around. They actively get to know their environment and develop through movement. And this applies not only to the area of motor skills, but also emotionally, (psycho)socially and cognitively. In order to promote this, the environment must naturally be designed to be conducive to movement. For this, the parents are the ones who are primarily responsible, especially when it comes to younger children. By now, many studies have shown that active parents have active children and vice versa. The family role model function plays a decisive role in the athletic development of children. However, influencing factors such as daycare centres and kindergartens, schools and also climatic conditions are also very important for promoting physical activity among children and adolescents. Because: The majority of adolescents in Germany do not satisfy the World Health Organisation’s recommendations for physical activity. This applies particularly dramatically to female adolescents.

Our ambassador Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen

“Exercise is a crucial key to the physical and mental health of children and adolescents. In order to be able to get enough physical activity, you need clean air, tolerable temperatures and sufficient space, among other things. For a long time, health and sports were considered separately from environmental conditions and influences, which can be both beneficial but also detrimental. With my foundation, I work precisely at the interface between medicine, the public and politics and am delighted to be able to make more people and institutions aware of these connections and to gain fellow supporters for two fundamental ideas: It’s not the climate we have to save, but ourselves! And healthy people only exist on a healthy Earth. That’s why I would also like to see more sporting ambition from athletes, officials and foundations for a sustainable and angel-friendly world.”

In Germany, children and adolescents are getting less and less exercise and are becoming increasingly overweight as a result. This not only affects the physical, mental and social health of children and adolescents, but could also lead to a reduced life expectancy, as studies in the USA, for example, have already shown.

These days we know considerably more about the health benefits of exercise and sports in childhood and adolescence than we did just a few years ago, e.g. about the communication between the various organ systems such as muscles, brain and adipose tissue, as well as the central role of sports and exercise in this context. The fact is: Not only do sports and exercise have physical benefits, but they also have positive effects on the cognitive performance of children and adolescents. In this, programmes that combine physical and coordinative requirements with each other are particularly useful. Sports and exercise also offer opportunities for chronically ill children and adolescents: Depending on the respective condition, sports and exercise have a direct positive effect on the course of the disease and lead to psychological stabilisation, an increase in quality of life as well as social integration.

Physical Literacy

Health-orientated sports for children and adolescents in Germany should be modelled more strongly on the concept of physical literacy, as is already common practice internationally quite often. Physical literacy represents a holistic approach to promoting (children’s) physical activity, in which in addition to participation, motor skills and abilities, motivation and self-efficacy are also combined. It should be a cornerstone or a firmly anchored target dimension of physical education in Germany. However, to date, there are hardly any specific strategies, such as “physical literacy”, that can be used to promote physical activity in children and adolescents. It seems to be of central importance to make children and adolescents aware of the connections between exercise/sports and health, but also self-efficacy, motivation and confidence in their own actions. This communication should be carried out by qualified parties. This brings with it the opportunity for these parties to influence the physical activity-friendly design of the living environments of children and adolescents by pushing for the expansion of existing programmes.