Modern living manifests in our children not having optimal movement opportunities. Our babies are put to sleep on their backs. They are cradled in car seats and bouncers for long periods, they spend long periods in baby walkers and buggies. Consequently too little time is spent moving through key developmental stages. Our children play outside less and sit in front of screens more. They consume more processed food.

These combined factors relate to the increase of childhood obesity in the UK – officially an epidemic. Yet a lesser-known phenomenon, which is of great significance, is that these inadvertent ‘environmental insults’ limit movement opportunities to such an extent that they affect children’s optimal physical and cognitive development. This has an impact on our children’s global learning potential, the effects of which can be life-long. Neuroscientific advance confirms that movement is essential for healthy brain development.

Through movement we first make sense of ourselves and of the world. Embodied learning anchors language and social and emotional skills. There is a growing body of evidence linking movement processing issues with the increasing diagnosis of developmental disorders and behaviour problems. Read more about this research.

Efficient movement patterns reflect globally. Conversely, physical difficulties are often early indicators of developmental disorders since they mirror the neurological organisation of the brain. In this way unaddressed physical deficits reflect in a child’s levels of concentration, ability to fully participate in their education and probable development of unhelpful compensatory habits. For example, a child may display uncomfortable sitting postures, pencil grip/control, difficulties in reading and writing or personality and behaviour issues. Unresolved, these manifestations can negatively influence their access to the curriculum and their educational progress generally.