Change4Life Information for Families with Children
Modern life has made things much more comfortable for us - so comfortable, in fact, that most of us spend too long sitting down doing nothing much at all!
Of course it's important to relax, but there's a difference between chilling out and vegging out. And the fact is that kids who are inactive don't burn off enough energy and risk storing up fat in their bodies.
The solution is simple - get up! Simply being up, about and moving burns calories, and helps their muscles and bones grow healthy and strong. Being active can also help fend off diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Something as obvious as getting your kids off the sofa will help. Many families are setting a limit of '2 hours max' of screen time each day. It stops kids vegging out and helps them get their 60 Active Minutes or more everyday.
Kids bodies are designed to be active
Eating more fruit and veg is import for us all, but how many of us actually manage to eat 5 A DAY?
Fruit and veg are packed with essential vitamins, minerals and fibre which can help reduce the risk of nasty diseases like cancer and heart disease. So it's important for kids to eat a variety of at least five portions of fruit and veg every day.
What's more it can be easier than you think to give kids their 5 A DAY. As well as fresh fruit and veg, canned, frozen, 100% fruit juice and dried fruit and veg all count.
And giving your kids 5 A DAY needn't be expensive - canned and frozen fruit and veg are usually cheaper and don't go off as quickly. And, buying fresh fruit and veg when it's in season can be cheaper too.
Remember - potatoes don't count towards your 5 A DAY as they're counted as starchy food. But you can still eat them as part of a healthy, balanced diet.
All school dinners include at least one portion of fruit and one portion of veg so that's another way of getting them toward a minimum of five portions a day.
Eating more fruit and veg is important for us all
Visit http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/ or call 0300 123 4567 for more information.
