Familyfitness - With Amy Martin of Sustrans

Playing with your children and helping them to be active is one of the most enjoyable and important things you can do for them. However, a recent report has shown that the UK is experiencing an inactivity epidemic that threatens our children’s futures.

The government report, backed by Sustrans, calls for a commitment from leaders of the major political parties to back a National Action Plan to make exercise part of everyday life.

We are constantly hearing that obesity in children is on the rise. The causes are linked to diet and lack of exercise and can remain a problem into adulthood. Every year, lack of exercise causes 37,000 premature deaths in England alone.

To tackle this problem, Sustrans is backing MOVE1, a new campaign to help parents to make family time, active time.

MOVE1 is supported by many organisations, including the British Heart Foundation, Nike and Premier League. The MOVE1 community will offer parents tips and ideas on how to make simple changes to get children active and moving for at least one hour a day.

The easiest way of increasing the amount of exercise you and your family get is to change your daily journeys to school, work or leisure into active journeys by walking or cycling.

On average, primary school journeys are just 1.5 miles – the perfect distance to walk or cycle. By walking or cycling to and from school four times a week, your family could meet many of your physical activity needs.

Sustrans can help you with this by providing you with free personal journey maps and travel information to help you get around Swindon. To order your free pack, just visit survey.sustrans.org.uk/swindon_your_journeys where you can also order information about cycling with children.

You can also get involved by supporting MOVE1 and joining the community at www.facebook.com/move1hour where they will be offering free advice and ideas for getting your family active.

So why not give it a go and make sure your children aren’t just another statistic? Get moving for one hour a day and make an important change in your family’s life.

If you would like more information about MOVE1, you can email us at Swindon@sustrans.org.uk or call 01793 600720.