Daily roundup 28 April: Activity, private parts, and school funding

There is an age-related decline in children's physical activity levels as they progress through primary school, research has found. A study by the University of Bristol found that children spent less time doing physical activity and spent more time sedentary as they progressed from year 1 to year 4.


Children should be taught the proper names for their private parts from the start, health chiefs said yesterday. The Daily Record reports that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's sexual health service want parents to use words such as penis and vagina with youngsters from an early age - and not nicknames such as willy or front bottom.


More than 500 head teachers have written an open letter to the Prime Minister demanding that she scrap plans for £3bn worth of cuts to education. The Somerset County Gazette reports that school leaders say they are concerned that standards will fall if the government is unwilling to give more money to education.


Grandmothers who smoked during pregnancy may have triggered autistic traits in their grandaughters, a study has suggested. The Telegraph reports that researchers followed 14,500 participants in a 1990s study, and found that that if a girl's maternal grandmother smoked during pregnancy, she was 67 per cent more likely to suffer poor social communication skills and repetitive behaviours.


Sales of children's books in the UK rose by 16 per cent to £365m last year. The BBC reports that the increase helped drive UK book sales to a record £3.5bn last year.