It’s widely acknowledged that childhood obesity is on the rise, not only nationally, but globally. Futhermore, experts identify that obese children are more likely to become obese adults. And so it seems like this increases the risk of health problems throughout adult life. The World Health Organisation (WHO) predict a generation at greater risk of diseases, such as diabetes.
How schools can help with childhood obesity
Schools are attempting to tackle this issue and the use of the pe and school sports premium funding. The aim is to increase activity levels of children and ensure high quality PE and school sport is taught. No matter the efforts made by schools, there is a wider issue of high calorie inexpensive food because that has a detrimental impact on health and well being.
Unhealthy foods
Cheap, fatty, and sugary foods are the main driver of the growing obesity problem. We previously blogged about the ‘sugar tax’, a levy enforced on sugary drinks, but we consider this to be only the first step needed by government. Consequently, joined up thinking and collaboration can help to meet WHO’s calls for more to be done. An example includes the crack down on advertisement and marketing of unhealthy foods to our young people.
Ending Obesity
The WHO is publishing a plan to end childhood obesity. It aims to provide clear guidance on how to curb rising obesity levels (more information can be found here). We consider a key step alongside healthier eating is pursuing an active lifestyle. School sport is, therefore, even more important than ever before.
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With weather improving we turn our attention to the outdoors and activity during the school day. Pressure on schools to deliver all areas of the National Curriculum is increasing and PE time is squeezed; although not a substitute for PE, walking can be a great way to increase physical activity for your pupils! May is National Walking Month and we are going to explore different ways to incorporate walking into your daily routines.
Living Streets
Living Streets are a charity that promote everyday walking in order to not only increase the amount of people walking but also to reduce the amount of traffic on our roads. Many of us are guilty of jumping in the car to school which can lead to congestion at the school gates. Living Streets are running ‘Walk to school week’ from 16-20 May find out how your school can get involved today!
The Daily Mile
“The aim of the Daily Mile is to improve the physical, mental, emotional and social health and wellbeing of our children – regardless of age or personal circumstances.” The Daily Mile is an innovative way of encouraging children to undertake more physical activity. It is very easy for primary schools to set up as The Daily Mile have resources ready for schools to use. Children complete the mile in their uniforms and it takes only about 15 minutes!
The British Heart Foundation
BHF is a charity which aim to keep our hearts healthy through research into heart disease but also rehabilitation and prevention of disease through healthy eating and physical activity. BHF have some great training programmes to support you on your way to walking further and possibly taking part in some of their walking challenges!
Do you have any innovative ways to include more walking in your day? If so we would love to hear them and share in future blogs! Send us your ideas to info@thepehub.co.uk
Following on from last week’s blog about the importance of engaging girls in PE, we are going to share a couple of new PE activities to try that might help you get girls more involved.
Alternative PE activities
One of the points we raised was how introducing a variety of sports/exercises to children at a younger age is vital in helping them find an activity they love. The This Girl Can website has a vast variety of sports and exercises that could be introduced to all children that include lots of sports not often played in primary schools.
Stoolball
Stoolball is an inclusive striking and fielding game similar to twenty20 cricket also it can be played by anyone. Stoolball England has a schools starter guide which introduces teachers to a set of simple rules to start playing stoolball in their school.
Ultimate frisbee
Ultimate Frisbee is another growing sport that can be very engaging for children and adults alike. Ultimate Frisbee has lots of similar qualities to other games, for example; when you have the disc you cannot move, and you score by catching the disc in an end zone. I like how children can transfer some skills but also learn new skills in an exciting sport.
Ultimate Frisbee has also paired up with Matalan Sporting Promise to try and engage children in sports like Ultimate Frisbee to lessen the drop off of children becoming disengaged with mainstream sports.
If you have any suggestions for sports you would like to see on The PE Hub, we would love to hear from you.
We hope you find these links informative! If you sign up for a newsletter, we will let you know when Stoolball and Ultimate Frisbee lessons become available.
Enter your details to receive information on how we work with schools & organisations like yours. Or if you have a question, either contact us or fill out the form below.
It’s Friday again! Every week we’ll share a few stories, articles, or resources that have caught our attention recently. Here’s this week’s crop:
UKEdChat: We recently came across an interesting article from UKEdChat which discusses the link between academic performance and physical activity. In my experience I have found that when teaching classes in the afternoon or at a after school club, the children can be more challenging and lively if they have had a ‘wet break’ at lunch time and have not been able to get outside for some fresh air and to burn off some energy. A wake up shake up activity can help here to get the children moving and ready to learn, this type of activity can also go towards the children’s 60 minutes of recommended activity each day.
Sticking with the lunch time theme:
Playpods: I have seen playpods in action at a school in Birmingham, this is a slightly different take on playground activity with less instruction and more chance for creative play. Children are able to engage with the materials on offer and use their imagination and creativity to play together. I like the idea of children being creative at lunch time and thinking of new and exciting games, it reminds me of playing as a child and not having any specific equipment but being able to entertain ourselves in play for hours.
We hope you find these links enjoyable and informative as you head into the weekend. Enjoy your days off—and if you haven’t already sorted your PE lesson plans, we can help with that.
Enter your details to receive information on how we work with schools & organisations like yours. Or if you have a question, either contact us or fill out the form below.
It’s Friday! Every week we’ll share a few stories, articles, or resources that have caught our attention recently. Here’s this week’s crop:
Jan-U-Ary: The National Obesity Forum’s Jan-U-Ary campaign encourages people to make small changes that can have big impacts on health over a lifetime. Here are some of their ideas for helping children take part in the change to healthier eating that might be useful for teachers and families.
NHS LiveWell: How often should the under-fives exercise, and what form should it take? Find answers from medical experts here at the NHS LiveWell site. This includes some ideas for getting kids active and the dangers of being too sedentary.
Youth Sport Trust: The YST is a great resource for PE teachers and other adults who care about keeping kids active in a healthy way. Their latest infographic on child obesity shows that we PE and fitness teachers have our work cut out for us. The YST offer a variety or resources that can by schools or parents to improve children’s diets and physical activity levels. Some of these can be found here!
West Sussex County Times: Finally, here’s an amazing story about Steyning Grammar School PE teacher and hockey coach Wendy Russell, who won the 2015 ‘Disability Coach of the Year Award’ at the Sports Coach UK Awards this past December. Russell began the UK’s first deaf hockey team—even developing a hockey-specific sign language!
We hope you find these stories enjoyable and informative as you head into the weekend. Enjoy your days off—and if you haven’t already sorted your PE lesson plans, we can help with that.
Enter your details to receive information on how we work with schools & organisations like yours. Or if you have a question, either contact us or fill out the form below.