CHILDHOOD OBESITY
pace around the playground, in uniform. A success in thousands of schools across the country already – such as Ab Kettleby school in Melton Mowbray, where students running in the Golden Mile initiative have benefited so much that now their teachers are getting in on the action – there’s now huge potential to get these schemes rolled out across all schools in the UK. As a slim child does not automatically mean a
fit and healthy child, we should measure fitness in the same way we do BMI. This can be done in a way that is fun, inspiring and engaging for young people, tracking kids against their own past fitness levels, such as schools in the northwest of England where testing has shown to offer huge benefits in terms of fitness and BMI. You can’t manage what you can’t measure, so how will we know if new programmes or funding is working without clear evaluation? Measuring children’s activity levels and long-term progress will give us the data we need to answer this question.
Adopt a whole school Physical Activity commitment Physical activity opportunities stretch far beyond just PE classes, which in most cases makes up less than 5 per cent of kids’ time in school. We can expand, extend and enhance schools’ physical activity offerings by encouraging activity before, after and throughout the school day. This can be done through active mile initiatives and high quality physical education classes, as well as more innovative options such as Imoves – a digital platform which provides teachers with a suite of active resources. Why not start walking buses to get kids active on the way to school? How about bringing activity into maths lessons? And how can we expand extra-curricular clubs to offer more exciting ways to play. Understanding what children and young
people want and what motivates them to be physically active is really important. Not all children like to play competitive sport so there needs to be a varied offering in schools to ensure that each child has an opportunity to be active.
Engage with families and the wider community Engaging parents and families is often a tough task but crucial to sustaining physical activity levels both during and after school. Simple strategies like clearly displaying extra-
curricular programmes, encouraging active travel, family breakfast clubs and including fun games at
parent-teacher evenings can all strengthen engagement and buy-in from parents and children alike. It’s important not to forget that there is also a
world of opportunity and expertise in leisure that sits on our doorstep. Linking up with local sports clubs and leisure centres can see us foster community links, and ensure our kids get varied and inclusive exercise opportunities the whole year round.
Look outside for new ideas Working with the right external providers and physical activity experts can often enhance your school activity offering, enrich children’s’ experiences and support your staff to more confidently deliver PE and embed activity throughout the school day. But how do you find the providers that are the
right fit for your school? ukactive Kids insists on all children’s activity provider members completing our Code of Practice. This is designed to ensure that operating standards such as safeguarding, health and safety, staff training, equality and diversity, safer recruitment, data protection, first aid, DBS checks, and customer care are all adhered to. Local activity providers can work collaboratively
with teachers to broaden extra-curricular activity programmes to make the, attractive and inclusive to all children. By working with a range of
partners and embracing innovation, we can develop a whole-school approach to keep children active throughout the whole day.
Let’s tackle this together Childhood obesity is one of the most urgent public health challenges facing this country, threatening economic and societal progression, as well as driving inequality by hitting the most deprived areas and families hardest. Tackling childhood obesity will not be achieved
by movement alone, but if we work collaboratively towards a broad health solution that includes physical activity, healthy eating and mental wellbeing, then we can drive policy and practice to make a real impact. Getting children to be more active takes a
whole-community approach and schools play a big part in this. As we strive towards post- industrial revolution physically literate societies, it is important that our children recognise physical activity as part of their everyday routine to make movement a life-long habit. Remember that a physically literate child
extends far beyond his or her ability to play in the school football team or win a medal at sports day. My call to you as a school leader is this; be bold
and be innovative in order to expand, extend, enrich and enhance your current health and physical activity offer for every child. Variety and fun are the key ingredients!
April 2017
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