Active Kids
To stay healthy and look after their heart, children need to be
active for 60 minutes or more every day. This can
be broken up into lots of short bursts of activity, or one hour all
at once.
Helping your child to get active is a fun thing to do together.
It doesn’t have to cost anything, and it really can make your whole
family healthier. Try and build this into your everyday life so you
are creating a healthy habit.
Being active helps a child to:
- feel happier and less stressed
- sleep well
- listen and learn
- maintain a healthy weight
- make friends
Easy and fun activities
Almost any physical activity is good for your
child’s health. The more they do an activity, the better they get
at it, which is great for their confidence too.
Encourage your child to do at least one of
these regularly:
- Quick walking to and from school
- Swimming
- Dancing
- Football
- Playing games like skipping or tag
How you can help
Children love doing things with other people.
Get the whole family out on their bikes or go to the park for a
kick about. Set your child challenges, like ‘how fast can you run?’
or ‘how long can you balance?’ Praise them for being active and let
them know you think it’s important.
Did you know?
79% of primary school pupils live less than 2 miles from school.
But only 54% of children actually walk to school.