Campaign aims to animate children

Thursday July 2nd, 2015

A new campaign to animate Britain's children and get them fit is being backed by cartoon giant Disney, it was announced today.

Launched by Public Health England, the campaign wants children to take part in ten minute bursts of exercise during the day.

It has been launched amid concern that just 16% of girls and 21% of boys meet their target of getting 60 minutes of activity a day.

Today schools were being encouraged to take part in the "largest ever" PE lesson - by doing ten minutes of the "shake up" in the morning.

The project allows children to enrol in one of four Disney teams, based on the stories Frozen, Toy Story, Monsters and Big Hero.

Teams then compete to do the most shake-ups daily.

Professor Charlie Foster, who publishes a British Heart Foundation-backed review of child physical activity today, said: "The positives of exercise on children's mental wellbeing are less well known than the physical benefits.

"The evidence showed a strong link between physically active children and improved self-esteem, confidence, attention span and even academic achievements."

Professor Kevin Fenton, of Public Health England, said: "Levels of childhood obesity are unacceptably high - currently one in five primary school children is overweight or obese. This latest review reinforces the essential health and wellbeing benefits of being physically active.

"Breaking up the 60 minutes of physical activity that children need each day into ten minute bursts will be more appealing and manageable for children and parents alike."

Tags: Child Health | Fitness | UK News

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