How are you enjoying the school summer holidays so far? We’ve already enjoyed a few days of sunshine and got stuck into our favourite outdoor activities, such as swimming, walking and going on bike rides. I think that the school holidays is a great time of year for the whole family to make a change towards living a more healthy lifestyle. It’s easier to feel motivated to get outside and be active while the weather is lovely. It’s also a good opportunity to introduce the kids to the idea of eating more healthily too, with plenty of salads, pasta and couscous on the menu during BBQ season!
Check out my healthy coleslaw recipe on the blog – no mayo in this dish!
With that in mind, I wanted to share something with all you mums and dads out there, to help you with some fun ideas for the school holidays that will also help your family to live a more healthy life. As part of National Childhood Obesity Week, which rans from 4th July 2016, NRS Healthcare launched a digital Healthy Living Family Pack to help families with children who may be experiencing issues with overeating, inactivity or poor nutrition and it contains useful ideas on how families can pull together to become more active in their daily lives.
What does the Healthy Living Family Pack include?
The digital Family Pack is available to download for free from the NRS website and the pack contains useful information and ideas for parents, coupled with an interactive star chart for children to track their activities in a fun, informal way. Families can learn more about childhood obesity and how to actively approach the subject through the pack contents, which include:
- Family Activity Cards
- A Family Day Out Wish List
- Daily Chores Calorie Counter (for parents)
- A Chore Chooser Star Chart (for children)
Find ideas for low-cost and fun days out for the school holiday on my blog – here
How about taking a trip to the seaside this summer? It involves lots of walking (such as along the promenade and into the coastal town) and playing beach games is a sure-fire way to get the kids moving. Beach volleyball anyone? Playing Frisbee, throwing a beach ball and even a chilled-out game of boules will add to the amount of exercise the kids are doing. You can incorporate a bit of swimming in the sea, as long as you’re really careful to stay on the shore in a lifeguarded area. Simply paddling and ‘jumping’ the waves is a fun game to play with the little ones and will get them moving. And flying a kite is the ultimate beach exercise – running, launching and manoeuvring the kite all take a lot of effort!
Read my tips for a day out at Thetford Forest during the summer holidays
If you can’t get to the beach, a trip to the park would be equally fun for the little ones, and provide them with plenty of chances to exercise while having fun. Riding a bike is fabulous fun, especially when there’s a healthy picnic at the end of the journey. Playing football is something that family members of all ages can get involved in. And playing on the playground is more exercise than it looks; the kids will think they’re just having fun, but they’re also running, climbing, jumping and hanging, which is giving them a workout without realising it!
Why are NRS Healthcare supporting Childhood Obesity Week?
As an established company within the healthcare industry, specialising in equipment to help older and disabled people live more independently, the team at NRS Healthcare understand the complications obese children can take into adulthood. “Carrying excess weight during key developmental years can contribute to many health problems when children are growing up including type 2 diabetes, depression and heart disease. Obesity can also cause a risk to bone growth and damage to developing cartilage. This, combined with the pressure bearing down on the joints, could cause adolescents and young adults to develop osteoarthritis – causing difficulties with walking and keeping up with their peers. As they grow older, it may mean that they need to use daily living aids to help them with routine tasks.” It’s therefore a good idea to tackle any childhood health problems before they arise and the summer holidays are a great time to get started.
This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂
