Make a Change4Life to safeguard children's health
03 October 2013
One of the UK's leading providers of children's playgrounds backs the Changeg4Life campaign based on its own experience and duty of care.
Inactivity and a poor diet is a potentially lethal combination; leading to many serious illnesses including cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.The risk to public health and the associated cost to the NHS is a growing concern for the Government, which is why it launched the Change4Life campaign – a national TV, print, mobile and online campaign which aims to encourage individuals and families to adopt a healthier lifestyle through the simple message of Eat Well, Move More, Live Longer.
The latest initiative to encourage more people to sign up to the campaign is Smart Restart – which was launched to coincide with the start of the new school year. Darran Hine, Sales Director for Sovereign Play Equipment, a leading UK playground provider, is all too aware of the lack of opportunity for active play that some children face and is fully supportive of the campaign: “We work with a wide range of clients, including schools, councils, private enterprises and residential clients, to design and install children’s playgrounds. “Sadly, particularly in the school environment, a severe lack of available funds means that many children do not have regular access to adequate play facilities and in some cases, these same children are also not encouraged to play when they get home, leading to long periods of inactivity. “Similarly, again due to budget constraints, many local councils are not able to invest in public play areas that could be available to children outside school hours.
Children also have less opportunity to play outside now than in any other generation before. This is a deadly cocktail of issues that society will pay the price for, either directly or indirectly, at some point in the future. “As an industry, we need to endorse campaigns like Change for Life and educate organisations that even a small budget can lead to big changes.
Well designed playgrounds make exercise fun – so much so that children don’t even think of it as exercise. They also encourage better behaviour through more positive social interaction and aid physical and mental development too. “Like Change4Life, our message is a simple one - without investing in the future, we cannot hope to impact on its outcome.” Darran’s concerns are well founded.
According to Change4Life, nine out of ten of children could grow up with a dangerous amount of fat in their bodies – a fact that can be completely reversed through the adoption of a healthier lifestyle during childhood.
A variety of tools are available from Change4Life, to facilitate a more active lifestyle, underpinned by better food choices. These are available from www.nhs.uk/Change4Life and are also available as free texts and downloadable apps for mobile phones and tablet devices.
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