Tots to Tweens
We all want our children to grow up fit and healthy; encouraging them to pick up good habits when they are young is a great way to help kids stay healthy and active as they grow older.
What are the recommendations for children?
It is recommended that children and young people aim to do at least 1 hour of moderate intensity physical activity every day.
Active children and young people can have large appetites, and it's important they eat food of high nutritional value in the form of well balanced meals. Avoid too many snacks high in fat, sugar or salt.
Helping your child be more active
Active parents have active children so exercising as a family is a great way to set a good example to your kids.
Ideas for being more active with your children
Try to limit the amount of time they spend watching TV.
One time when it is ok for your toddlers to watch is when it is an activity based show such as Mini Movers on Nick Jr. For more details, visit www.nickjr.co.uk/minimovers.
Build activity into your daily routine by walking to and from school or walking to the local shops.
Make use of local parks – Hackney has the largest expanse of green space in the whole of inner London, so why not:
Go for a walk or bike ride– play games to keep their interest. Try I-spy or hide and seek.
Play football or practice your ball skills by dribbling up and back between two trees.
Set up circuits where you do different activities at each station for example – knee high running on the spot, star jumps, skipping or anything else you can think of!
If it’s cold and wet, and you don’t want to go outside, then you could:
Put on some music and dance in your living room – you could make up dances or learn the steps from music videos or films.
Do relay races in the hall – try hopping, skipping and jumping as well as running
Play musical chairs or use music for hopping or jumping on the spot.
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Go to the local leisure centre - Under 16s can swim for free at GLL leisure centres in Hackney during the school holidays.
Kids and food
As well as being active, it is important that your child eats a balanced diet. If you encourage them to make healthy choices when they are young, then they are more likely to continue to make healthy choices as they grow up.
Tips for getting your child eating a balanced diet:
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Introduce a wide range of foods into your child’s diet early – encourage them to eat the same foods you do rather than cooking separate meals
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Tailor portions sizes for your child, especially if eating out - they won’t need as much as you do.
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Get your child to eat a proper breakfast –a good breakfast, such as a wholegrain cereal, will help them to concentrate at school and reduce the chance they will snack before lunch.
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Make sweets and crisps a treat – try just having one day a week when they choose what snack they want.
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Make fruit more fun and easier to eat by cutting it up or making fruit kebabs
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Stock up on healthy snacks on your weekly shop so they are always to hand.
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Avoid deep fried foods
Check out our foodhall » for more recipes that are great for helping your child eat more healthily. You could even try cooking them together.
HAPPY in Hackney and HAPPY at Home
The 'HAPPY in Hackney' Programme is an Early Years Health Promotion Programme promoting healthy environments and healthy lifestyles in early years settings such as children centres and nurseries. HAPPY stands for Healthy Activities and Practices with Pre-school Years. The programme is designed, using the National Healthy Schools framework.
The HAPPY@Home programme is an extension of the HAPPY in Hackney programme involving parents/carers and their young babies/children in a series of parent and child workshops. It was developed in Hackney in 2006 as an under fives family learning programme for healthy lifestyles and obesity prevention which aims to promote physical activity, physical development and healthy eating.
For more information about these programmes click here.
