Joe Wicks urges parents to work out with their kids this summer
The fitness coach and TV host has created an animated fitness series, Activate, backed by government.
The fitness coach Joe Wicks is urging parents to start the day being active with their children during the summer holidays.
With the six-week break approaching and some already broken up from school for the summer Wicks has created a free five-minute animated fitness series, Activate, to help parents and kids to keep moving, which has been backed by the government.
It comes as a new poll suggests that many parents are concerned about their children being inactive during the school holiday.
“Many parents know that keeping children active during the summer holidays isn’t always easy,” Wicks says.
"Once school finishes, routines change and there are lots of competing demands on family time, so it’s important that movement feels fun, simple and easy to fit into the day.
“Activate was created with exactly that in mind."
The fitness coach says his series doesn’t just get kids jumping around, " It’s designed to break-up sedentary time with accessible movements built around strength and conditioning - like squats, burpees and press-ups - without kids even realising they are ‘exercising’.
“There really is a challenge for everyone, and we’ve made sure there is a fresh, exciting theme for each of the episodes so families can either take on a surfing challenge, climb a treetop, or test their superhero powers, to name a few."
"My mission has always been to help children develop a positive relationship with exercise, and I hope Activate gives families a fun, free tool to stay active together throughout the holidays and beyond.”
Parents worry their kids aren't active enough
It comes as a new poll of 2,000 parents of four to 11-year-olds in England, conducted by Censuswide in the first week of July, found that 88% worry their children will have too much sustained sedentary time over the summer holidays.
Under one in five (18%) think their children will achieve 60 minutes of daily physical activity every day of the week during the break.
Wicks was joined by Health Secretary James Murray to promote the use of the Government-backed exercise programme, which is available on YouTube and CBeebies.
Mr Murray says: "We want every child to have the best possible start in life, and helping families build regular physical activity into their daily routines is an important part of that.
“Activate makes it easier for children to enjoy being active through fun, free and accessible content that families can use wherever they are this summer.
"Together with the refreshed Physical Activity Guidelines, parents can be confident they have the tools they need to help their children develop healthy habits that can benefit them for years to come."
Created by Wicks and backed by Government funding, the series contains five-minute workouts to get children moving to popular songs from Gala to Olly Alexander along with songs from Bastille, the Spice Girls and Rizzle Kicks.