observer.guardian.co.uk0,6903,1202741,00.htmlOpen ↗
"Drive to get Britain's kids off the couch
Gaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondent Sunday April
25, 2004 The Observer
Children should walk to school, enjoy regular bike rides and
play outside in the evenings to limit their risk of
suffering serious diseases when they grow up, a major
government report on Britain's 'couch potato' culture will
warn this week. Parents will be told their offspring should
be physically active for between 45 minutes and an hour five
days a week, to set good habits for later life and minimise
the risk of dying prematurely.
Whether the pleasures of an Enid Blyton-style childhood can
be made to appeal to children raised on heavy TV viewing
habits and computer games remains to be seen. But Professor
Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, will say
regular exercise could halve the risk of heart disease or a
stroke later in life and cut the risk of dying prematurely
by a third.
'Most people now know that having an unhealthy diet or
smoking is bad for you, but this research shows physical
exercise is equally important to health,' said a Department
of Health source.
'Children also need to build up their bone density. But it
could be just walking to school or cycling to school, or
running around the playground at breaktime. It doesn't have
to be formal.'
Even that could be difficult for many modern children,
however. One recent survey found that even toddlers are now
physically active for only 20 minutes a day on average.
For adults, Donaldson will say the 'magic figure' for
optimum health and controlled weight is half an hour of
exercise, five times a week - a 'five a week' message likely
to be publicised by Government as heavily as its 'five
portions a day' message for eating more fruit and
vegetables.
Vacuuming counts as exercise, as does energetic gardening
and walking upstairs, alongside more conventional sports
like tennis.
Donaldson's long-awaited report, to be published this
Thursday, covers exercise rather than diet.
But schools were today urged to install 'healthy' vending
machines selling drinks like milk and water, rather than tooth-
rotting fizzy drinks, after a Government-funded study found
children will buy healthy alternatives given the chance.
If only one in five schools installed a machine, children
would drink another 14 million units a year of milk,
juice and water, the Food Standards Association
calculated. One school in its study made a net profit of
£1,283 in six months.
'The received wisdom that children will not buy anything
from vending machines but fizzy soft drinks is a myth,' the
FSA study concludes.
The FSA is now drawing up guidelines for schools. It will
not however instruct them to ditch fizzy drink machines,
arguing children need to learn to choose between healthy and
junk alternatives.
'The debate is not just how much fat and sugar kids eat,
it's about teaching them what is sensible as part of a
healthy diet,' said an FSA spokeswoman.
This week the Government will also publish a survey on
school sport, revealing 62 per cent of pupils now get at
least two hours' PE a week - the target The Observer is
campaigning for all children to reach.
The 6,500 schools in the survey - all involved in sport
partnerships, so more likely to prioritise it than average
schools - spent an hour and 40 minutes of weekly curriculum
time on PE."
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