THOUSANDS of secondary schoolchildren from across Caerphilly county borough have taken part in 5x60 sessions delivered at their school by Sport Caerphilly.

Last term, 4,617 pupils attended at least one session, which encourages youngsters to get active for at least one hour, five times per week. They include sport sessions such as dodgeball, netball, zumba, football and circuit training and can either take place before school or at lunchtime.

Dave Poole, Caerphilly council’s cabinet member for community and leisure services, said: “At Caerphilly County Borough Council we are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all of our residents and believe that sport and leisure services can provide a preventative method to tackling serious health problems.

“It is a well known fact that sport is particularly important during childhood and adolescence. A higher level of physical fitness during primary and secondary school is generally associated with a healthier and more active lifestyle in adulthood which will decrease the risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.”

Last year, Sport Wales released figures gathered in their school sport survey, the largest survey of any kind of young people in the UK, which highlighted that 39 per cent of Caerphilly county borough children are “hooked on sport”, slightly less than the overall Welsh average of 40 per cent.

The total attendance figures at 5x60 sessions reached almost 50,000 in the autumn.