Despite the cost of those gym kits and the hassle of ferrying kids to and from extracurricular sports, parents cannot rely on school to give their children the 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity they need to be healthy.

Few children meet this minimum criteria advised by the Department of Health. Only 19 per cent of primary and 12 per cent of secondary school children reach the target, with girls – especially older girls – less likely to do so. With one in four children already overweight and with higher than normal blood pressure, lack of activity in youth affects adult life expectancy.

Our sedentary schools simply cannot provide enough activity with current resources. The majority of schoolchildren do not receive the minimum number of minutes of physical education per week (60 minutes for primary, 120 minutes for post-primary) recommended by the Department of Education, a Sports Council of Ireland survey found. Only 10 per cent of post-primary pupils and 35 per cent of primary students reach the target, with girls receiving less physical education time than boys. Team games, particularly “invasion” games, are dominant.

While it’s positive that two-thirds of primary and three-quarters of post-primary pupils enjoy extracurricular sport at least one day a week – often thanks to the voluntary efforts of teachers and other adults – boys are more likely than girls to engage, and participation decreases with increasing age.

Older girls need to find a sporty passion. Outdoor pursuits such as windsurfing, sailing, mountaineering, wall climbing and walking are proving popular with girls, while rowing can be "addictive" for them, says Neasa Fahy O'Donnell, senior executive sports manager with the University of Limerick.

Dancing for health
Picking up a sport in adolescence can be intimidating, when starting young is key in some sports. "It is almost impossible to pick up hurling in my opinion if you haven't started it by the age of 10," says Eoin Vaughan, of gogaelic.ie

For the arty rather than sporty, dance is a fitness option. Michael Donnellan, a trained PE teacher and a well-known Irish dancing champion and teacher, says there is a strong aerobic element to dancing, with classes using chart-topping music. "You get to build up core strength and muscular endurance, too," he says.

Children and young people should spend less than two hours per day in front of a screen of some kind, yet less than one per cent of children meet this Department of Health target. The good news is that more children – 38 per cent – are walking to school than 10 years ago, which shows the influence of schools and parents.

The key is to help children get off their seats and find an activity they like, then support them to stick with it. The Sports Council of Ireland says that it doesn’t matter what the activity is, as long as it’s done.

Additional reporting by Brian O’Connell

Síofra Cléirigh Buttner 

Schoolgirl athlete

It’s a sign of both her extraordinary potential and swift realisation of it that Síofra Cléirigh Buttner can’t readily recall how many Irish schoolgirls’ titles she’s won. Between track and cross-country she’s conquered every age group – always in dominating style – and set several records.

The latest and surely most impressive came last June, when Buttner ran a brilliant 2:03.81 to win the senior girls’ 800 metres in Tullamore – knocking six seconds off the nine-year-old record, and faster than even Sonia O’Sullivan was running at that age.

Now, having turned 18 in July, Buttner begins sixth year at Coláiste Íosagáin in Stillorgan looking to extend her incredible unbeaten streak in schools’ competition. Given that she loves to lead every race from gun to tape – a daring tactic she has mastered since first emerging in that great nursery of juvenile athletics at Dundrum-South Dublin – anyone looking to beat her is not going to have it easy, because Buttner, for sure, is one of the toughest schoolgirl athletes around.

IAN O’RIORDAN

Craig Donnellan 

Schoolboy footballer 

Players his age would jump at the offer of a contract in the UK, Craig Donnellan  opted to stay in his native Cork and work away in Coláiste Chríost Rí on getting the Leaving Cert under his belt before weighing up his options in football.

Those who have dealt with him as he has developed into one of Ireland’s most promising see his decision as another example of the  maturity that sets him apart. A holding midfielder with a great footballing brain and feet to match, Donnellan (17) has spent around a decade playing for College Corinthians, leading his team to a string of league and cup doubles in recent years. Along the way, he has picked up international caps at various levels, but he still finds the time to help coach the club’s under-12s as well. He’s rumoured to be off to Cork City for the coming season: a stepping stone, perhaps, to greater things.

“It’s a tough world to make it in,” says one Corinthians official, “but if anyone deserves to make it, he does.”

EMMETT MALONE

Kashif Ali

Schoolboy cricketer

Kashif Ali is a promising youngleft arm seam bowler from Navan. He previously played cricket at Knockharley CC in Co Meath, but last year he joined North County CC in Balbriggan.

Kashif attends St Pat’s, Navan. He travelled to Wolverhampton CC last year with the Leinster under-15 side and has shown that, as well as possessing talent, he is a very committed cricketer.

EMMET RIORDAN