BBC Asks Whether Yoga, Dance and Fitness Can Engage More Girls in PE
A one-minute BBC Health video, linked to Bitesize's Girls in PE programme, asks whether non-competitive activities could make school PE more appealing to girls
By AXY Health Desk ·
Key points
- BBC Health published a one-minute video on 20 October 2026 asking whether yoga, dance and fitness can encourage more girls to enjoy sport.
- The video is linked to the BBC Bitesize programme 'Girls in PE: Breaking Down the Barriers', available on BBC iPlayer.
- WHO recommends an average of at least 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity for young people aged 5 to 17, and girls are on average less active than boys.
- Supporters argue that less competitive, skill-independent activities could widen participation, while critics point to staffing, timetable and stereotyping concerns.
- No change to the national PE curriculum has been announced in the material available; the video is a prompt for discussion.
On 20 October 2026, BBC Health published a short video asking whether activities such as yoga, dance and fitness can encourage more girls to enjoy sport. The one-minute clip, titled 'POV: Your girls' PE lesson gets a glow up', is linked to a longer Bitesize programme called 'Girls in PE: Breaking Down the Barriers', which is available on BBC iPlayer. The question at the heart of the clip is a practical one for schools: if the way physical education is taught changes, will more girls want to take part?
The source material gives the video's title, its running time, its central question and the link to the Bitesize programme, but not a full account of what the clip shows or what individual pupils, teachers or experts say in it. This report therefore does not describe those contributions. What the framing makes clear is that the BBC is presenting a change in the style of PE lessons as a possible way to draw more girls in. That idea sits within a long-running debate among teachers, sports bodies and researchers in the UK and elsewhere about why participation in school sport drops away for many girls.
How PE lessons developed
Physical education, usually shortened to PE, is a subject that pupils in state schools in England study as part of the National Curriculum, the framework of subjects that schools must teach. PE is compulsory for pupils through to the age of 16. Similar school sport requirements exist across the UK and in many other countries, although the details of what is taught and how it is assessed vary.
For much of its history, PE in many schools has been built around team games such as football, netball, hockey, rugby and cricket. Lessons were often organised around competition, with clear winners and losers, and pupils who were already confident and skilled tended to get the most out of them. For many young people this model works well. For others, particularly those who feel less capable or who have had uncomfortable experiences in sport, it can feel exposed and stressful. Those pupils may stop taking part as soon as they have the choice, and the effect can last well beyond school.
The question of how to make PE more inclusive is not new. Teachers, sports coaches and education researchers have long discussed whether a wider range of activities, taught in a less competitive way, would keep more pupils involved. The BBC's video reflects that discussion, asking whether a change in the type of activity offered could make a difference.
Why girls' activity levels drew attention
Researchers and public health bodies have repeatedly pointed to a gap between boys and girls in physical activity during the teenage years. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children and young people aged 5 to 17 do an average of at least 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Moderate to vigorous activity means exercise that makes breathing noticeably faster and harder, such as brisk cycling or fast walking at the moderate end, and running or competitive sport at the vigorous end. WHO has reported that many adolescents around the world do not meet this guidance, and that girls are on average less active than boys.
The reasons are widely discussed and are usually thought to involve several factors rather than one cause. Commonly cited ones include self-consciousness about appearance, changes in body image during puberty, lessons that favour the most skilled players, and a sense that some sports have not been designed with girls in mind. Research on young people's activity has also repeatedly linked enjoyment and confidence to whether they keep moving once they have a choice about how to spend their time.
This background helps explain why the BBC's question matters. If the gap in activity opens up during adolescence, school is one of the few places where most young people take part in regular, supervised physical activity. How PE feels to pupils may therefore influence whether they carry on with exercise later.
Why the type of activity may matter
The idea behind the BBC's question is that the type of activity on offer could matter as much as the amount of time spent on it. Yoga, dance and fitness training are often described as less dependent on winning or on prior skill. They can be taught with a focus on personal progress, on rhythm and movement, or on building strength and stamina over time. For pupils who have never felt at home on a football pitch, these formats may offer a route into regular activity that does not depend on beating someone else.
Supporters of this approach argue that it could widen the range of activities a school offers and give pupils more choice. Enjoyment, they would say, is a practical goal in its own right, because a pupil who looks forward to a lesson is more likely to keep taking part. Critics and some teachers, however, raise practical concerns. Specialist dance or yoga instructors are not available in every school, timetables are crowded, and changing a long-established PE curriculum requires staff training, equipment and time. There is also a question of whether a 'softer' format might reinforce older stereotypes about what girls should or should not do. These are tensions that a short video can only touch on, but they show why the question is not simply a matter of adding a new activity to the timetable.
It is also worth being clear about what the video does not claim, at least in the material available. It does not present results showing that yoga, dance or fitness training increase enjoyment or participation among girls. The question is an invitation to consider the idea, not evidence that it works.
What the BBC programme is asking
The title of the Bitesize programme, 'Girls in PE: Breaking Down the Barriers', points to the broader aim: identifying what stops girls from taking part and looking at ways to remove those obstacles. The short clip places yoga, dance and fitness at the centre of that discussion. Its wording invites viewers to consider whether these activities can change how girls feel in PE, not only what they do during the lesson.
This matters because enjoyment is often a deciding factor in whether young people keep moving as adults. Pupils who enjoy an activity are more likely to continue it outside school, whether through clubs, gyms, walking, cycling or informal play. Pupils who dread lessons are more likely to step away from physical activity altogether. If a different style of lesson could turn a reluctant pupil into a regular participant, the benefits might reach well beyond the school gate, including fitness, general health, confidence and social connection.
BBC Bitesize is a learning resource aimed at pupils and teachers, so the programme is likely to be of particular interest to those who plan or teach PE, as well as to parents who want to understand what their daughters are being offered at school.
Why it matters to families and schools
For parents, the debate is about whether their daughters are getting the physical activity they need during the school day, and whether PE is helping or harming their attitude to exercise. A child who finishes each PE lesson feeling embarrassed or left out may be less likely to join in later, while one who leaves feeling capable may be more willing to try other activities.
For teachers, the question raises practical issues about lesson planning, staff training and how success in PE should be measured. A lesson that produces fewer obvious winners but more pupils who feel willing to return may be a different kind of success from one judged by competition results. Schools would need to decide how to weigh that against traditional measures, and they would need staff who are confident teaching unfamiliar formats.
For the wider health system, the stakes are long term. Lower activity levels in adolescence are linked in public health research to a higher risk of later health problems, and habits formed at school can influence what adults do for decades. Governments and sports bodies therefore have an interest in helping more young people, especially girls, stay active, and rethinking how PE is taught is one of the approaches being discussed.
What to watch next
The BBC video is a prompt for discussion rather than a report on a new policy decision. The material available does not announce any change to the national PE curriculum, so readers should treat the question as open. Its practical significance will depend on what happens in schools over the coming months and years.
Several developments could show whether the idea is gaining ground. These include whether schools begin to test yoga, dance and fitness formats more widely, whether training is offered to staff who are not specialists in those areas, and whether any pilot programmes produce evidence on pupil participation and enjoyment over time. Measuring whether girls keep taking part after leaving school would be a stronger test than measuring attendance in a single term.
People who want more detail can watch the full 'Girls in PE: Breaking Down the Barriers' programme on BBC iPlayer and explore the BBC Bitesize learning resources. The central test for any new approach is simple to state but harder to achieve: whether more girls leave PE lessons feeling that movement is something they want to do, and whether that feeling lasts beyond the school years.
Questions and answers
Can yoga and dance help more girls enjoy PE?
The BBC video asks this question directly, presenting yoga, dance and fitness as possible ways to make lessons more appealing to girls. The material available does not report findings showing that these activities work, so the question remains open.
What is the BBC Girls in PE programme about?
'Girls in PE: Breaking Down the Barriers' is a Bitesize programme, available on BBC iPlayer, that looks at what stops girls from taking part in physical education and how those barriers might be reduced.
Why do girls tend to be less active than boys?
Public health research has pointed to a gap in activity between boys and girls during adolescence. Commonly discussed reasons include self-consciousness, changing body image, lessons that favour the most skilled players and a sense that some sports are not designed with girls in mind.
Is PE changing in schools because of this video?
No change to the national PE curriculum has been announced in the material available. The video is a prompt for discussion about how lessons could be made more inclusive.
Topics: Girls in PE, Physical education, School sport, BBC Bitesize, Girls and physical activity, Yoga and dance in schools
Sources: BBC Health