Move more, sit less and have fun! Get active in Leeds
It’s summer! Time for children to enjoy playing outdoors with their friends. A small number of you, however, may need encouragement to put away those smartphones and enjoy the benefits of physical activity…
Encouraging children to be physically active for at least an hour every day is important to keep them health and happy.
Nearly half of this city’s children do less than an hour of daily physical activity – with girls being more inactive than boys – a recent report by Leeds City Council Public Health shows. You can see a summary of this in a series of short animations.
The survey also found that just over half the children in the city walk to school but only 0.6% cycle which is well below the national average of 4%.
Jan Burkhardt said: “Humans were designed to move and in the space of a few generations we have become really inactive and this is damaging our health.
“Too much time spent on computers, TV and mobile devices is one of the main reasons children can be inactive so swapping some ‘screen time’ for being active is one of the best ways to get children off the sofa and help keep them happy and healthy.
“Being active as a family can also be a good way to have fun, get fit and spend time together”.
We’ll be doing more on this in the coming weeks but, in the meantime, here’s a quick round up to help get more children enjoying the benefits of physical activity.
- Change4Life has lots of ideas and top tips for being active.
- DAZL Leeds has a great track record of helping children enjoy the benefits of physical activities.
- Do you know of our Play Streets Leeds initiative? It’s a great way for the neighbourhood to close their streets so children can experience playing out safely close to home.
- Our research into children’s physical activity can be seen in this series of short animations, alongside the Leeds Children and Young People Physical Activity Needs Assessment 2016 and its executive summary.
Leeds Beckett University and Leeds City Council Children’s Services are delighted to present their inaugural collaborative conference, Play & Playwork: research and practice 2017. The conference, aimed at all those with an interest in children and their play, features an array of presentations and workshops delivered by leading practitioners and researchers from across the UK and beyond. To find out more, please visit: http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/pages/play-and-playwork-conference/
