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Exercise: Children

Volume 485: debated on Thursday 11 December 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the National School Pedometer programme in improving children’s health. (240370)

Following a successful pilot in 2006 in which 43 schools were followed, the National School Step-O-Meter programme (Schools on the Move) was launched in a further 250 schools, located in deprived areas, in July 2007.

A full evaluation of the pilot year was undertaken by the London Sport Institute, Middlesex University in September 2006, which showed encouraging increases in children’s activity levels. A further monitoring and evaluation study has been designed and we are expecting a full report on the initiative in December 2009.

A copy of the evaluation report for the Schools on the Move pilot year has been placed in the Library.