A NATIONAL sport summit is to be held in Scotland for the first time in a bid to tackle the country’s “worrying” trends in physical and mental health, particularly among teenagers and older people.
The summit will aim to change the culture in Scotland by using sport more effectively to combat rising obesity levels and poor health.
It will see the Scottish Government, local authorities and sports organisations join forces at the Hearts football stadium in Edinburgh for a two day brain-storming session on possible solutions.
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The summit has been organised by the Observatory for Sport in Scotland (OSS), the first think-tank in the UK devoted to community sport and activity and follows research that suggests Scotland is becoming an increasingly divided sport society with the growth of an “active class” and a left behind “unsporty and inactive class” that make up a significant minority of the Scottish population.
There is also a gender gap with girls dropping out of sporting activities quicker than boys and a drop-out of both sexes as people grow older, according to the OSS report.
The “steep” drop-out with age is in contrast to other European countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark, where there is also equality in participation between men and women.
Austerity cuts in local authority provision are thought to be adding to the problem in Scotland as large geographical variations in participation between local authority areas are only partly explained by variations in population density, demography and levels of deprivation.
Some of the broad challenges facing sport are not unique to Scotland, the report points out. Even in countries like the Netherlands and Denmark which “set the bar” there are signs of participation coming under pressure and issues of “sporting inequality” linked to social class.
However, the scale of this group in the UK (and by inference Scotland) – more than a third of the population – makes it an even greater policy issue, according to the report.
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“There are worrying signs that young people’s participation in sport is starting to decline,” it states. “The evidence points to the next generation of Scots being more inactive and less sporty than their parents and grandparents were at the same age with the consequences of deteriorating health and wellbeing.”
The report adds: “These trends have occurred despite heightened public policy concern and political consensus over this issue. And many might think that there is little reason to believe that this pattern will not persist over the next 10 years and beyond.
“The current picture of a nation that is too inactive for its own good is stark, as are the consequences. Scotland is currently near the top of the world’s league table of countries that are overweight and obese.”
The report concludes that there should be a critical examination of current funding systems to establish who is most likely to benefit and why, and if there are unintended outcomes that subsidise those who least need public subsidies rather than reaching and making a difference to those who need them most. Any such analysis should occur both nationally and in local authorities across Scotland.
Next month’s summit is being held to examine the issues and also the positive work which has been taking place, thanks to initiatives by the Scottish Government, other authorities and sportscotland.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeane Freeman, Dr Catherine Calderwood, the chief medical Officer, and sportscotland’s Chief Executive Stewart Harris are the key speakers.
Freeman said she was pleased to be involved and welcomed the summit’s focus on learning from best practice in Scotland and across Europe.
“Everyone in Scotland should have the opportunity to feel the positive effects from taking part in sport and physical activity,” said Freeman.
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The international event will feature guests from Scandinavia and the Netherlands, and enter into controversial areas with the International Olympic Committee’s Esports representative Chester King joining entrepreneurs behind new sports technology and apps which are designed to encourage regular activity.
It will be hosted by Heart of Midlothian FC at Tynecastle Stadium. Club owner Ann Budge said: “Heart of Midlothian FC and myself personally are delighted to host the first National Summit at Tynecastle because it embodies what is important to us as a community football club.”
The summit will be held on November 25 and 26.
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