Teesside families urged to get their children trying a sport this New Year
Many neighbourhoods in Teesside have kids that are overweight or obese
Families in Teesside are being urged to consider taking their children to try a sport this New Year.
We've previously heard more than half of Middlesbrough's neighbourhoods see more than 40 percent of kids being either overweight or obese by the time they reach Year 6.
Jo Cunliffe, a tennis coach in Teesside, said: "Getting involved in Tennis taught me loads of skills physically, obviously hitting a shot, and being able to move effectively but it also taught me loads of amazing life skills, so confidence, self esteem, and independence.
"Scientific research found that out of all of the main physical activity and wellbeing programmes, tennis was discovered to add on average around seven years on life expectancy and the reason behind that was because of the social interaction.
"We know that for a lot of people their dream would be to playing at Wimbledon and being the next Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu but that journey is really, really tough and there's lots of things like a jigsaw that has to fit along that journey."