We are all aware from the high profile mainstream media coverage that obesity in the UK is a real and growing problem. Following on from food labelling legislation the recent changes to advertising legislation aimed at protecting children and the emergence of the Sugar Tax the Government has taken further small steps to tackle the problem and is rightly focussed on the younger generation and children.
Key Statistics
- 19.1% of children in Year 6 (aged 10-11) are obese and a further 14.2% are overweight.
- Of children in Reception (aged 4-5), 9.1% are obese and another 12.8% are overweight.
- This means a third of 10-11 year-olds and over a fifth of 4-5 year-olds are overweight or obese.
- The cost of diabetes to the NHS is over £1.5m an hour or 10% of the NHS budget for England and Wales.
- In total, an estimated £14 billion pounds is spent a year on treating diabetes and its complications, with the cost of treating complications representing the much higher cost.
Source: Public Health England
Welcome to our first Space4Learning blog!
I hope you have had a good look at our website, read my profile and that my utter passion for the outdoors, cycling or otherwise comes through strongly. This coupled with a genuine worry for the future of mankind drives us at Space4Learning and Bike4Health to tackle the problems referenced above head on!
It might sound a little over the top but if predicted figures are to be believed the evidence is there and worrying.
You only have to walk down your high street or local shopping area or even stand outside your local school to observe the numbers of overweight people including children in our communities.
It’s this real evidence all round us that means we have to get people active and the outdoors is a perfect classroom and playground! Humans have evolved to move and explore all environments, not to sit still looking at ways to make things easy and avoid interaction with the wider world. Whilst technology of course has it’s applications we should not let ourselves and our children become slaves to it.
At Space4Learning we firmly believe in activity outdoors whether it be on a multi-purpose track to walk, run or cycle or going outdoors to have a lesson in a round house. Educating children and creating a love of the outdoors at an early age is fundamental if we are to change this cycle of obesity and fear of the outdoors.
We hope you will join us in our challenge to make the outdoors great again for more people!