The absent body: bio-social encounters with the effects of physical activity on the well-being of children and young people

This chapter illustrates current public health messages surrounding physical activity and young bodies and explore some of the research evidence that this calls up, demonstrating gap between the certainties of public health guidance and the uncertainties in the evidence. Critical sociological studies of children and young people’s health, health education and sport have provided powerful analyses of how the constitute and constrain the embodied subjectivities of children and young people. Public Health England’s How Healthy Behaviour Supports Children’s Wellbeing sets out the effects on well-being of screen time’, physical activity’ and healthy eating and diet’. Sebire et al findings are reported in terms of associations and variability taking account of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IDM); gender; engagement in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA); and counts per minute’ (CPM) on the accelerometer. The work of Holder et al is interested in the contribution to wellbeing of passive’ and active’ leisure, and specifically those activities that children choose for themselves.