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Cuts to the number of hours pupils spend doing physical education and sport "should be a matter of immediate national concern", a charity says.

In state schools in England 4,000 hours of PE have been lost in 2022/23, representing a 12% drop from a high in 2012, when London hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Youth Sport Trust (YST) children's charity says this loss is a "further threat to the wellbeing of young people".

World Health Organisation guidelines say everyone should do at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day across a typical week.

Do you feel you do enough sport and PE in school or during the day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

YST chief executive Ali Oliver MBE, said fewer than half of children in the UK meet that guideline for the minimum recommended activity levels.

"This is contributing to a nation where too many children are missing out, have poor wellbeing and lack a sense of belonging," he added.

"The evidence is clear: unhappy and unhealthy children do not learn and just this week we are seeing proof of this as high levels of persistent absence and mental ill health have been cited as undermining pupils GCSE results."

Children's levels of physical activity dropped during the pandemic - but in December, funding agency Sport England said they had recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

It said only 47% of children were meeting the recommended activity level, however.

And in April it said there were nearly half a million fewer active young people, aged 16-34, compared to six years ago.

How much PE is timetabled in school?

In March, the government announced schools in England would be required to deliver a minimum of two hours of PE per week, and ensure equality of access to sport for girls and boys.

More than £600m of funding will be provided over the next two years to support this aim.

In total some 326,277 hours of PE and sport were delivered in secondary schools in England in 2011/12.

That fell to 290,033 in 2021/22 and to 285,957 in the past 12 months.

What's the picture in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland it is recommended that two hours per week is allocated to PE, but many schools have had difficulty sticking to this.

In 2018 Ofsted found that 69% of schools it visited in Wales had two or more hours of PE in the weekly timetable, but in some cases, precious time was lost in getting changed and setting up equipment.

Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, 19% of primary pupils received 30 minutes or less PE per week in 22018, and only 40% of secondary school pupils received the recommended 120 minutes per week.

In 2022 figures from the Scottish government suggested 99% of all primary and secondary schools combined were meeting the target level of PE provision.

Lionesses back girls' right to play football

England's Euros-winning women's football squad - who finished runners-up in the 2023 World Cup - have also campaigned for all girls to have equal access to PE.

The team pointed out that only 63% of girls were able to play football in PE, according to the Football Association (FA).

Only 44% of secondary schools in England offer girls equal access to football in PE lessons, according to report by England Football, part of the FA.