60 minutes is all it takes...

Guidelines show that ideally, kids should do at least 60 minutes of physical activity that gets their heart beating faster than usual, every day. It’ll help burn off calories and prevent them storing up excess fat. To get some useful ‘60 active minutes’ ideas for all the family, visit:

www.nhs.uk/change4life

Get into the habit

It’s important to get kids into healthy habits at a young age – it’ll stay with them through life and also help to protect them against disease. And of course, exercise can be a really fun way to spend time together as a family. Once you start incorporating exercise into your daily lives, it’s easy.

Here are some ideas to start you off:

• Have a TV free day and do something more active instead – see how creative you can be!
• Put some music on and dance! Its great exercise, and most importantly, its fun!
• Get everybody in the family to do their bit of housework – especially the energetic stuff like hoovering or - in good weather - gardening.
• For shorter trips, leave the car at home and walk instead. It’s not just exercise, it’s time spent together. Walking is much less stressful than driving, and it’s more environmentally friendly too.
• If you’re planning a holiday, go for an active one like skiing or sailing. Active holidays are great fun for families, and you learn new skills too.
• Contact your local fitness centre to see what family activities are available