MONDAY, 3 JULY, 2017

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Taysiders encouraged to have a fun,

fit summer

NHS Tayside’s Paediatric Overweight Service Tayside (POST) is encouraging families to get outside, have fun and stay active this summer, whatever the weather.

Regular physical activity in everyone’s daily life is proven to have many health benefits, including helping maintain a healthy weight, bone health and improving cardiovascular health as well as improved quality of life. With the long summer nights, this is a great time to ditch the couch and get the whole family active.

Recent guidelines recommend that even children under five years of age should have less sitting time. Pre-school children should be encouraged to be physically active for at least three hours a day and older children for at least one hour a day.

The POST team message is not to be discouraged by any damp weather, but instead to get creative. Here are some top tips to help kick start your fun, fit, family summer:

• Find out about activities planned for your local area – there are lots of summer programmes which are reasonably priced.

• There are lots or walking/cycling routes around Tayside, even in the city areas. Go online and look for free, printable maps. Your local council usually has these.

• Local councils or charity groups run holiday play schemes in local parks which are often cheap or free.

• Try a family swim session on a rainy day.

• Try organising a treasure hunt. Write down clues, which can be questions or puzzles. For young children, this can all take place in your home or garden.

• Write down a list of things to be found in the garden or park, for example, a flat stone, a pointed leaf and get the children to go out and find them.

Adults should aim to do a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week. One way to do your recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity is to do 30 minutes, five times a week.

The POST service promotes the 1,2,3 message to children which is at least one hour of physical activity a day, no more than two hours screen time per day and three healthy balanced meals a day.

Send POST your summer holiday activity pictures on Twitter to @POSTNHST or www.facebook.com/nhstaysidePOST with the tag #funfittayside.

To find out more about the POST service or if you have any concerns about your child’s weight, you can contact POST in confidence on 01738 473784 or email post.tayside@nhs.net

Contact:

Gaynyr Dickson

NHS Tayside Communications

01382 740716