Three Quarters Of Children Are Not Active Enough: Government Survey

“The biggest survey of its kind, conducted by the Department of Health, found that children are not getting the recommended one hour of physical activity outside of school times. Almost half of children watched TV or played non-active video games before school and only a fifth of children did something active after dinner, the Change4Life survey found. Over 11m questionnaires were distributed through GP surgeries, letterboxes, websites and magazines. Of the 260,000 responses 72 per cent of families said their children were not getting one hour of physical activity outside of school. The findings,. of the How Are the Kids survey, were released to coincide with a new advert to encourage activity in children. One third of children under 16 in England are thought to be overweight or obese and this is projected to rise. The ad features the Change4Life family as they realise that 'sitting around doing nothing' can lead to a build up of fat in their bodies that can cause diseases such as type two diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Other adverts on the subject from the Department of Health have been fiercely criticised as 'over the top and frightening' because pictures of a healthy looking child eating a cupcake was captioned with 'Is a premature death so tempting?'. Dawn Primarolo, Minister for Public Health said: ‘Our survey shows that kids just aren't getting up and about as much as they should. If we're going to cut obesity levels our children need to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. ‘Families up and down the country are getting tailor made action plans from Change4Life, and our new ads will give additional encouragement to help families feel the difference. ‘By eating better and moving more, we can all live longer and healthier lives. With continued support from Change4Life this can be a reality for every family in England.’”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5213531/Three-quarters-of-children-are-not-active-enough-Government-survey.html