Letter: Sporting chance

LESLEY Riddoch (Perspective, 18 April) is right to question the appropriateness of Judy Murray's campaign for more physical education in schools.

While there are clear benefits from PE, it is not the only, or the most effective way of encouraging children and young people to be more active. Yet Scotland's physical activity strategies and budgets are strongly sport-led, with the SNP's main focus on PE and Sports Scotland being tasked with delivering Scotland's active schools programme.

There are alternatives to sport. Nature kindergartens establish active outdoor lifestyles in the early foundational years while creating daily adventurous outdoor play opportunities challenges the zero-risk culture.

The forest schools movement has demonstrated significant increases in children's activity levels while measures to support walking and cycling to school have obvious impact.

Such initiatives have demonstrated an ability to reach "non sporty" children, establish patterns of physical activity that last a lifetime and support other important areas of child development including creativity, social skills, environmentally responsible behaviour and appreciation of the natural world. They've done all this with significantly less funding than has been invested in sports and PE.

Physical inactivity remains one of Scotland's most persistent and important challenges. It will need more than one simple target and strategy if we're to tackle it effectively.

Alastair Seaman

Grounds for Learning

Inglewood House, Alloa