Every council and community team wants more young people active. The harder question is which ones, and how to reach the ones who don't turn up to the usual clubs.
This guide sets out who is missing out, what the research says about sport and young people's mental health, and what we know and don't know about action sports in particular.
Who is missing out
Sport England's Active Lives Children and Young People Survey for 2024 to 2025 covered more than 100,000 children aged 5 to 16 in England. It found:
- 49.1% (3.6 million) were active, averaging 60 minutes or more a day.
- 28.4% (2.1 million) were less active, averaging under 30 minutes a day.
- Girls were less active than boys: 46% against 52%.
- Children from the least affluent families were less active than those from the most affluent: 45% against 58%.
- Children with two or more characteristics of inequality were at 40% active, against 54% for children with none.
Sport England says inequalities have widened in the short term, because the least affluent families haven't seen the increases other groups have.
The pattern is clear. The children least likely to be active are the ones who are girls, from lower income families, or facing more than one disadvantage at once.
What the research says about sport and young people's mental health
In 2024, researchers at Edge Hill University reviewed 143 studies for Sport England on sport, physical activity and the mental health of children and young people. They found strong, consistent evidence that sport and physical activity helped young people with diagnosed mental health problems, with the overall quality of evidence rated moderate. Trials delivered in groups showed stronger effects than one to one programmes. The review recommended group settings with peer support.
It matters what this review does and doesn't cover. It looked at structured programmes for young people with diagnosed conditions. It did not assess unstructured or informal activity such as skating, and belonging wasn't an outcome it measured.
What we know about action sports
The research on skateboarding is smaller, and mostly qualitative. Three studies are worth knowing about.
A 2010 study in the Journal of Adolescent Research found young people who used skate parks reported levels of personal adjustment and social connection similar to other adolescents, despite the negative attitudes many adults hold. The author concluded that unstructured activity in a skate park setting has considerable potential for positive youth development.
A 2014 study of one skate park in Perth, Western Australia, with 387 survey respondents, found pro-social behaviour reported far more often than anti-social behaviour.
A 2025 study of 32 young women skateboarders aged 8 to 27 in two English cities found they described mental health benefits including relief from stress and anxiety through concentration, belonging in girl only and woman only sessions, and confidence built by repeatedly failing and trying again. They also described pressures that could undermine this, including competition and performing for an audience.
What we can't claim
We don't know of a study showing that action sports reach more excluded young people than traditional clubs do. We'd be guessing, and we'd rather tell you that.
What we can say is that public skate parks and ride spaces generally have no membership, no selection process and no fee. That's a feature of how the setting works, not a research finding. Our founder grew up in the UK care system and found in skateboarding, a Raleigh Chopper and then BMX somewhere to belong that nothing else offered at the time. That's one person's experience. It's the reason we do this work. It isn't evidence for a committee paper.
What councils can do with this
- Run open sessions without selection. Beginners welcome, all ages, no sign up barrier.
- Run sessions for girls and women. The research and the participation gap both point the same way.
- Pay for trained local session leaders. A space that's activated gets used differently from one that isn't.
- Include young people in how it's designed and run.
- Measure it. Who came, how often, who didn't, and what they said. Without this you'll struggle to make the case at the next budget round.
- Put safeguarding in place first. A written policy and appropriate background checks for anyone leading sessions with under 18s.
If you're thinking about running something in your area, we'd be glad to talk it through: hello@horngry.net or visit our For Councils page.
Sources
- Sport England. Children's activity levels rising but inactivity remains too high. Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, academic year 2024 to 2025.
- Smith, Fairclough, Kaehne, Liverpool and Maden (2024). Children and Young People's Mental Health and Physical Activity. Edge Hill University for Sport England.
- Bradley, G. L. (2010). Skate Parks as a Context for Adolescent Development. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25(2).
- Wood, L., Carter, M. and Martin, K. (2014). Dispelling Stereotypes… Skate Parks as a Setting for Pro-Social Behavior among Young People. Current Urban Studies, 2(1).
- Paechter, C., Keenan, M., Stoodley, L. and Lawton, C. (2025). 'Free therapy': Young woman skateboarders, mental health and body self-compassion. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 60(2).