Children are spending less time playing, less time outside and less time with their friends, says a new report.

Instead, they are spending more time inside on digital devices at a time when millions of children are growing up unhappy and unhealthy.

A report out this week argues that a National Play Strategy is urgently needed, with around four in ten children living with an unhealthy weight, more than a quarter of children overweight and one in five children and young people in England struggling with their mental health.

The report highlights how:

• Time spent playing outdoors has gone down by half since your parents were children.
• At least 400 playgrounds have closed across England between 2012 and 2022.
• More than two million children in England up to the age of nine don’t live within a ten-minute walk of a playground.
• There are a growing number of ‘anti-play’ ‘No Ball Games’ signs, due to outdoor play being seen as a nuisance.

Now, the State of Play report from the Raising the Nation Play Commission is calling on the government to “get children playing again” and wants new funding for playgrounds.

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