Children in Staffordshire are being invited to join in with ten minute bursts of fun physical activity as part of a national campaign.
Staffordshire County Council is backing the latest Change 4 Life’s ‘10 Minute Shake Up’ project to help keep the county’s children healthy over the summer.
The latest campaign, inspired by the new Disney film ‘Finding Dory’, will promote fun activities across the county, offering tips for children to help them stay healthy.
Public Health England advises children aged 5 to 16 years to do at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day to get their heart beating faster to burn off calories and prevent them storing up excess fat in their bodies. This also keeps their bones healthy and encourages muscle strength and flexibility. But just 21% of boys and 16% of girls currently meet the national recommended level of activity of 60 minutes each day.
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Alan White, Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing at Staffordshire County Council said: “Keeping active and taking regular exercise is really important for everyone especially children. We know that physical activity and sport have a very positive impact on people’s lives and for children it can also help develop their social skills, confidence and self-esteem. If we can get children into the habit of doing regular exercise while they are young, it’s also more likely to become part of their everyday routine as they grow up.
“This is definitely a fun campaign with great health benefits and I’d encourage people to get involved.”[/box]
Families can sign up to a Team Zone named after their favorite Disney film on the website at www.nhs.uk/10-minute-shake-up. The website is full of fun activities which are great for children as it provides easy, bite-size exercises and games which aim to keep children moving.
Advice on healthy living for the whole family and details of activities in Staffordshire are also available at www.staffordshirecares.info/Home
