Pupils from Strandtown Primary school in Belfast are taking part in a Skip2bfit workshop, in a bid to combat the rising levels of overweight children. The workshops are funded by the Public Health Agency to help children to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine. Skipping used to be a popular game among children, but in recent years the game has dwindled with less children than ever playing outdoors, taking part in games such as skipping.
The Skip2bfit workshops are already enjoying success in the United Kingdom, and have been introduced to Northern Ireland as a fun way to educate kids about fitness levels and weight issues. The skipping ropes that are used, have counters in the handles which count the number of skips. Counting the skips increases motivation and helps kids to increase their activity levels on a daily basis. In Northern Ireland, 22.5 percent of year one children were considered obese or overweight, giving rise to concerns about health. The 240 pupils taking part in this initiative have welcomed the skipping and are studying healthy lifestyles as part of their curriculum.
The Skip2bfit will encourage children to increase activity levels whilst having fun, but children had fun while being active years ago, without the specialist equipment. Football, skipping, hopscotch, British Bulldog and many more games were all active and didn’t require costly equipment. One of the main worries about children playing outdoors is safety, which is crucial in today’s society. Perhaps it is time for each local community to gather willing volunteers to give up a small amount of time each week to introduce supervised activity for kids. A playing field or patch of land, a football, skipping rope or length of rope and chalk are the basic requirements. Volunteers would have to be police checked, which costs money, but surely the cost would be redeemed by the fewer numbers of obese children with future health issues. Skip2bfit is an excellent idea which could be developed into a much larger scheme, at a very small cost to society, but with a huge impact on child obesity levels.
