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Children Not Exercising Enough
Too many children are not getting enough exercise, a new Change4Life survey has revealed.

A poll of Change4Life families in England has shown that 72 per cent of their children are not taking part in a minimum of 60 minutes daily activity, outside of school.

It also found that 45 per cent of their kids watched TV or played video games before school and only 22 per cent were physically active after their tea.

Change4Life is a cross-government campaign to help families eat well, move more and live longer. The Campaign includes the ‘How Are The Kids Survey', the biggest national survey of children's diet and activity levels, capturing more than 260,000 responses from families in England.

Since the survey started in January 2009, families have received bespoke support packs to help them make small, but important changes to their daily routines.

Dawn Primarolo, Minister for Public Health, said: "Our survey shows that kids just aren't getting up and about as much as they should. If we're going to cut obesity levels our children need to be active for at least 60 minutes a day."

It comes as leading leisure operator Sheffield International Venues (SIV) is stepping up its bid to get Sheffield moving with a new fitness for life scheme.

SIV has launched its own ‘Where Can I...' campaign to encourage more people to take up health, sport and leisure activities across its venues in Sheffield. Linked to the national Change4Life initiative, it has been designed to highlight where people can get fit, play golf, skate, and swim, play sport, eat well and get active.SIV operates 14 sport, leisure and entertainment venues including Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Hillsborough Leisure Centre and iceSheffield.

Justine Foster-Davis, head of sport for SIV, said: "Leading an active lifestyle makes you feel better and live longer. In order to maintain a healthy weight, it is essential to both eat well and move more.

"Children and young people should achieve a total of at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each day. At least twice a week this should include activities to improve bone health, muscle strength and flexibility.

"The recommended levels of activity can be achieved either by doing all the daily activity in one session, or through several shorter bouts of activity of 10 minutes or more. This can be physical activity, structured exercise, sport, or a combination of these.

"SIV is committed to helping young people to achieve these aims, which is why we are delighted to partner with Change4Life for our ‘Where Can I...' physical activity campaign. "Many people want to improve their health and fitness levels but don't have access to the facilities in order to achieve this.

In Sheffield, we are lucky enough to have a world-class aquatics centre, Olympic-sized ice pads, an athletics stadium and some of the best value health and fitness facilities, which offer a wide range of sport and leisure activities for people of all ages and abilities."