Fat maybe but happy - Leicester's Children

[davieG]

Long evenings playing in the street, visiting friends and going to sweet shops all sound like growing up in a bygone age.

But these "old-fashioned childhoods" could be the very reason why youngsters in Leicester are some of the happiest in England.

A Government questionnaire of more than 250,000 children aged between 10 and 14 in schools across England has revealed pupils in Leicester are more satisfied with their lot than most.

Yet Leicester scored particularly badly when children were asked to list the formal activities they took part in, such as youth club or drama classes. So could the old-fashioned childhood activities from days gone by be the very reason why Leicester's youngsters are so happy?

Brian Brown, a psychologist at De Montfort University, in Leicester, said that was quite possible.

"Some kids' social lives are too structured," he said. "They just don't play out in the streets like we used to. But in Leicester it appears that a more informal, unstructured approach to spending free time actually makes kids happy.

"I remember my own childhood, when we would play football together in the street, and going to the cinema was a special treat. Now there is a lot of emphasis on electronic devices or more formal classes, such as swimming or dancing.

"While those sorts of opportunities are beneficial, these findings show they are not the be-all and end-all." The results of the Government's annual Tellus survey, based on 253,755 individual responses from children and young people in 3,699 schools, is one of the key ways of measuring what it means to be young today.

Children are asked about their "good" friends, worries and whether they can talk to their parents.

The conclusions show that in questions relating to "emotional health and wellbeing", city children come 11th out of those in all 150 local authorities in England, and first in the East Midlands. The county is at 35th place nationally. But despite councils ploughing money into formal youth services, Leicester is the sixth lowest when it comes to children taking part in "positive activities". The county comes within the top third in this category.

Nikhil Patel, eight, of Evington, Leicester, also said it was his pals who made him happy.

He said: "Leicester is good because I have good friendly friends.

"I play football with a boy who lives around the corner from me."

Lois Mistry, six, of Birstall, said friends, sweets and dancing made her happy. She said: "I like Leicester because I have lots of friends. My favourite place in Leicester is Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe. I do want to take up ballet classes."

Dad-of-two Robert Lambert, of Oadby, said: "You do get quite nostalgic about your own childhood and think it was full of long summer evenings and playing in the park, but I do think we were happier then. Despite the internet and their iPods, my kids are at their happiest when they've been playing with friends so I don't think much has changed."