Nine out of 10 children aged under five are not active enough to be healthy, new study shows

Councillor Ralph Berry, portfolio holder for health and social care at Bradford Council, was reacting to a national study showing that more than nine out of 10 children aged under five are not active enough to be healthy.

Coun Berry said: "Making sure children play and have an active lifestyle is the responsibility of everyone and is an important part of every child’s development.

"It's also a priority for the district to ensure every child has the healthiest and best start in life possible.

"The sooner mums, dads and grandparents start playing with their children the better as play is an important part of both their mental and their physical development.

"Health visitors and child care settings across the district encourage play which helps develop children’s language skills, imagination and sharing skills with other children as well as the additional, life-long health benefits.

"As children get older, there are initiatives like the junior park runs, Greenline Mile walking routes and healthy weight programmes that can help children have fun and take part in exercise. That’s in addition to the swimming pools and parks throughout the district."

Researchers at The British Heart Foundation (BHF) have found that only nine per cent of children aged two to four are meeting current Government guidelines of getting at least three hours of physical activity every day.

Experts are now calling on the Government to do more to embed exercise in young people's lives, which will then help support brain development, improve bone health and muscular development as well helping develop social and cognitive skills.

The BHF's national centre for physical activity and health, based at Loughborough University, wants to see exercise included in policies so it becomes part of everyday life at home, in early years settings such as nurseries and in the community.

Danielle Dixon, who is the director of Kinder Haven day nurseries looking after more than 300 children across the Bradford district, said professionals already understood the benefits of movement.

But she said it needed to be explained to parents whose youngsters were not in early years education or in other settings where being active is already being encouraged as a part of their daily routine.

"It's the families of children who are not accessing these opportunities and environments like ours that need support and guidance to understand the benefits of energetic movement from lead professionals," she said.

Ms Dixon said being active was already a big part of life in nurseries because of the known benefits it brings and added: "Children need at least three hours a day of physical activity that could include walking, running, dancing, building, hopping, skipping and generally anything that promotes a burst of energetic movement.

"Increased activity in children helps reduce obesity and health issues, it enhances children's cognitive development improving concentration, sleep patterns, behaviour, motivation and their overall well being. Encouraging children to be active when they are under 5 supports long term healthy habits and self esteem."

Elaine McNish, director of the BHF's national centre, said: "This manifesto outlines how we can create an environment for our children that encourages them and stimulates them to be active.

"This manifesto is a call to policy makers to ensure that early years settings are supported to create active environments.

"We know that active children are more likely to become active adults so it's vitally important to get it right at the beginning to give children opportunities to play from a young age and develop a lifelong love of being active."