Primary school children to receive physical activity lessons
Vesela Gladicheva
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
From next month, children aged four to 11 will take part in Government funded physical activity lessons as part of the 'Energy Club' scheme
Primary school children across the UK will benefit from Government-funded physical activity clubs from September in an effort to make them more healthy and active.
Run by volunteers from the local community, the ‘Energy Club’ scheme will be packed with pre-school physical activity classes for children aged four to 11 when schools return after the summer holidays.
Trained volunteers, including mothers, young adults and volunteers from local schools and big companies will deliver the scheme in primary schools across the country.
Sessions will run for half-an-hour, once or twice a week. Children will learn about the right food choices through fun games and equipment such as cones, a ball and hoops and bean bags.
The Government is teaming up with the private sector to deliver the programme. Part funded through the Social Action Fund with an initial grant of £900,000 for 900 schools in the first year, it requires financial help from the commercial sector to fund 10,000 more primary schools.
The announcement comes in the wake of the success of the Olympics and the record medal haul by Team GB. ‘We're backing Energy Club so that young people can follow in the footsteps of their sporting heroes and do more sport at school,’ said Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society.
‘It’s an exciting chance for volunteers to be part of a national movement to help more children get all the benefits of physical exercise,’ he added.
Linda Plowright, chief executive of Sports Leaders UK, which will train the volunteers, said, ‘Energy Club is about communities taking social action. This is an exciting time to help keep our kids and their families active after the success of London 2012, and we want as many people as possible to be involved.’
In 2010, around three in ten boys and girls aged two to 15 were classed as overweight or obese, according to the Health Survey for England.
Phil Gray, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, which runs a Move for Health Kids campaign, said, ‘Lack of physical activity and poor diet puts children at greater risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and musculoskeletal disorders later in life.
‘With the increase in cars, computers and convenience food, it is vital to help children into healthy habits early on in life. Energy Clubs could be a great way to combat these.’
British Dietetic Association spokesperson, Jacqui Lowdon, said, ‘With increasing rates of children who can be classed as overweight or obese, paediatric dietitians welcome any new approach that will try to help combat this epidemic.
‘With the launch of Energy Clubs, as well as encouraging children to get more active, it is also an ideal springboard to raise awareness of better eating habits.’
In contrast, the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which runs a Food4Thought campaign aiming to help tackle childhood obesity, had a mixed reaction to the Energy Club programme.
Liz Byron, policy officer at the BHF, said, ‘We welcome initiatives that encourage children to keep active, and what better time to launch such a programme than in the golden glow of this summer of sport?
‘However, this scheme relies on money coming from the private sector, and we don’t yet know who that will be. It would be unfortunate if the nature of any future sponsorship meant that there were questions about the health benefits of the scheme.’
Anyone interested in volunteering for Energy Club or registering their primary school should visit www.energyclubuk.org and leave their contact details.
Run by volunteers from the local community, the ‘Energy Club’ scheme will be packed with pre-school physical activity classes for children aged four to 11 when schools return after the summer holidays.
Trained volunteers, including mothers, young adults and volunteers from local schools and big companies will deliver the scheme in primary schools across the country.
Sessions will run for half-an-hour, once or twice a week. Children will learn about the right food choices through fun games and equipment such as cones, a ball and hoops and bean bags.
The Government is teaming up with the private sector to deliver the programme. Part funded through the Social Action Fund with an initial grant of £900,000 for 900 schools in the first year, it requires financial help from the commercial sector to fund 10,000 more primary schools.
The announcement comes in the wake of the success of the Olympics and the record medal haul by Team GB. ‘We're backing Energy Club so that young people can follow in the footsteps of their sporting heroes and do more sport at school,’ said Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society.
‘It’s an exciting chance for volunteers to be part of a national movement to help more children get all the benefits of physical exercise,’ he added.
Linda Plowright, chief executive of Sports Leaders UK, which will train the volunteers, said, ‘Energy Club is about communities taking social action. This is an exciting time to help keep our kids and their families active after the success of London 2012, and we want as many people as possible to be involved.’
In 2010, around three in ten boys and girls aged two to 15 were classed as overweight or obese, according to the Health Survey for England.
Phil Gray, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, which runs a Move for Health Kids campaign, said, ‘Lack of physical activity and poor diet puts children at greater risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and musculoskeletal disorders later in life.
‘With the increase in cars, computers and convenience food, it is vital to help children into healthy habits early on in life. Energy Clubs could be a great way to combat these.’
British Dietetic Association spokesperson, Jacqui Lowdon, said, ‘With increasing rates of children who can be classed as overweight or obese, paediatric dietitians welcome any new approach that will try to help combat this epidemic.
‘With the launch of Energy Clubs, as well as encouraging children to get more active, it is also an ideal springboard to raise awareness of better eating habits.’
In contrast, the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which runs a Food4Thought campaign aiming to help tackle childhood obesity, had a mixed reaction to the Energy Club programme.
Liz Byron, policy officer at the BHF, said, ‘We welcome initiatives that encourage children to keep active, and what better time to launch such a programme than in the golden glow of this summer of sport?
‘However, this scheme relies on money coming from the private sector, and we don’t yet know who that will be. It would be unfortunate if the nature of any future sponsorship meant that there were questions about the health benefits of the scheme.’
Anyone interested in volunteering for Energy Club or registering their primary school should visit www.energyclubuk.org and leave their contact details.
