A group of North London schools could be among the first in the country to take part in a new fitness measurement pilot which aims to help tackle the nation's youth inactivity crisis.

The ‘My Personal Best’ initiative has been developed to remedy the fact that 75 per cent of UK school children are not doing enough physical activity to keep them healthy. The programme comprises four bleep tests throughout the school year, with the aim of identifying periods when children become most inactive.

Organisers Premier Sport – who have been supported by the ukactive Research Institute – hope that by pinpointing sedentary periods, which tend to coincide with school holidays, initiatives can be put in place to maintain activity levels throughout the school year and keep children healthy.

Yesterday (19 May) saw Premier Sport, ukactive and representatives Camden and Islington Borough Councils launch plans to give schools across the two boroughs the chance to take part in the pilot – which has already been successfully trialled with more than 400 children in the north west of England.

The new pilot has capacity for up to 21 schools and is due to kick off in September for those that choose to take part. Organisers aim to establish whether the initiative is both feasible and scalable, with hopes of potentially implementing such a scheme nationwide in future.

“It is fantastic to see the growth of the ‘My Personal Best’ initiative in action,” said ukactive Research Director, Dr Steven Mann, who used the results of the previous pilot to help produce an international research paper soon to be presented at the American College of Sports Medicine.

“The impact that the programme has had nationally is already a cause for celebration and the fact that schools in Camden and Islington will be able to engage with this model is a real plus to everyone in the Borough.”