A new national campaign aims to bridge the physical activity gender gap between women and men by empowering daughters and mums to get active together.
Launched by Women in Sport, #TimeTogether looks to help daughters and mums discover new ways of spending time with each other – by inspiring them to dance, walk, climb, swim and play sport together.
Currently, only 42 per cent of teenage girls meet physical activity guidelines and just under a third of girls (32 per cent) are inactive, engaging in less than an average of 30 minutes activity per day.
The figures, from Sport England's
Active Lives survey, also shows that 65 per cent of men are likely to be active, in comparison to 61 per cent of women
Meanwhile, Women in Sport's own studies show that mums are often reluctant to allocate time for themselves to be active, with 32 per cent of women saying that they couldn’t prioritise exercise during lockdown as they had too much to do for others.
The #TimeTogether campaign will see host of organisations – including Places Leisure, Our Parks and This Mum Runs – offering activity ideas for mums and daughters across the UK to try.
Those getting active are then encouraged to share their experiences using the #TimeTogether hashtag across social media platforms.
"Our research has shown that teenage girls cherish alone time with their mum and view their relationship as a ‘safe space’ without any fear of judgement," said Stephanie Hilborne, CEO of Women in Sport.
"This campaign provides an opportunity for them to find their judgement free space together, get active, and discover the joy, fun and well-being benefits of exercise.
"Our insights show that girls in their teens feel burdened by school work and social expectations, and at the same time the lives of their mothers are often fraught with growing pressures of work and providing emotional support and care for relatives.
"We want every mother and every daughter to feel they have permission to take time out to have fun outside and be active. There has rarely been a more important time for such special mutual support and to be active together than in this pandemic.”
