16/07/2014 - Permalink

Sign up and Shake Up this summer

Related topics: Community / Health

Young people across Shropshire are invited to ‘Shake it Up’ as part a major new campaign launched this week.

The Change4Life and Disney’s “10 Minute Shake-Up” campaign runs from Tuesday 15 July 2014 for six weeks and aims to encourage children to get active during the holidays.  The campaign’s ultimate ambition is to get kids across the country moving for an extra 100 million minutes this summer.

Only one in five children aged 5-10 currently meets the recommended target 60 minutes of daily activity, with almost 40% of children in this age group doing less than 30 minutes per day.  The 10 Minute Shake-Up campaign uses a bit of Disney magic to inspire children to reach the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day, with fun, manageable 10-minute bursts of exercise.

The 10-Minute Shake Up campaign offers lots of free tools and tips to help families get active this summer.  Parents and children can sign up to receive a free 10-Minute Shake Up pack which includes:

  • a stopwatch for timing 10 minutes of activity
  • a wall chart and stickers for monitoring activity
  • Disney character activity cards
  • personalised emails and SMS support; as well as
  • exclusive access to the online Shake Up zone, which is full of fun games and activity suggestions for kids to play.

Karen Calder, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for health, said:

“We recognise that the summer holidays are long, and that children can get bored very quickly, which can be a real struggle for parents.  This campaign aims to shake things up and provide helpful tools and inspiration to families.  Keeping active helps children maintain a healthy weight and is important for heart and bone health.  Playing games with one another can also help them develop social skills and gain confidence.

“I really would encourage parents and children to sign up to this fantastic campaign.  Having fun and getting active has never been simpler.”

Professor Rod Thomson, director of public health, added:

“Physical activity is really important to help children maintain a healthy weight.  In Shropshire, almost one in 10 of our children enters primary school obese, and this figure rises to one in five by the time they leave aged 10-11 years.  Children who are overweight or obese can experience bullying and discrimination with health problems such as type 2 diabetes and cancer more likely to develop if overweight and obesity continues into adulthood.

“We’re very pleased to announce our support for the Change4Life with Disney 10-Minute Shake Up campaign.  Ensuring that children get their recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise is important, but it can be hard to keep them interested.  Breaking it down into 10 minute bursts of fun keeps kids engaged.”

To sign up to and get you free 10-Minute Shake Up pack visit https://10minuteshakeup.change4life.co.uk/hubindex.

For more information on keeping yourself healthy, have a look at the new Healthy Shropshire website: www.healthyshropshire.co.uk.