THE QUID A KID CRUSADE FOR CHILDRENS FITNESS

£1, PER CHILD, PER YEAR. THATS ALL IT TAKES TO BEAT CHILDHOOD OBESITY.

As the national obesity problem reaches epidemic proportions, Bodydoctor Fitness is on a mission to stop it – and we are starting with the next generation.

kids fitness campaign

Just as Jamie recoiled in horror at the state of the nation’s school dinners, we are appalled by the national curriculum’s P.E. classes and want to implement an invaluable fitness regime into schools nationwide to ensure that Britain’s children are fit for life.

While star jumps and catching games are de rigueur in many schools, we believe this all too basic mode of exercise is letting our kids fitness down. If children are encouraged to embrace effective fitness from an early age, it is likely they will continue to make it part of their life during adulthood, which will help to prolong their lives.

Read what The London Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph have written or watch our TV coverage on our YouTube Personal Training Channel.

We have developed a workout for children based on the evolutionary movement patterns that infants use from the cot – simple moves which are vital for the body’s development, but which are often forgotten as children grow up. These exercises utilize all the different muscle groups in the body, the same way that an adult’s workout does, but without the need for equipment, as the body provides the resistance.

The exercise’s can be done anywhere, in the home, classroom or in the sports hall and all the schools would need is a few soft spongy balls. Numerous exercises can be performed in a sequence to replace a P.E. class or certain ones can be used as a sport specific warm-up for a particular sports class. Ideally, the exercises will become a daily occurrence in schools, increasing children’s overall activity levels and fitness as well as teaching them about their bodies.

The workout will improve children’s fitness flexibility, strength, stamina, balance and co-ordination and will also increase enjoyment in other areas of their lives. Regular effective exercise will improve concentration, enhance enjoyment of other hobbies and motivate children throughout their formative years.

The Bodydoctor – At Barrow Hill in London

Barrow Hill, NW8 is my old primary school and the first school to hold the Bodydoctor classes. I have been working with Barrow Hill’s head teacher and P.E co-coordinator for many months and last term we trialed our programme with year 5 children. Astonishingly, the children have reported to me that they have been not only carrying on with the exercises during the summer, but also actually involved their parents and siblings in the programme at home. We are now teaching the programme to the rest of the teachers on a weekly basis, in order to roll it out to the rest of the school.

The cost of saving our children

If the Government took this programme on and rolled it out throughout the country it would average out at a cost of £1 per child per year. It’s that simple. All they have to do is employ a workforce of trainers and send them around the country, into each and every Primary school, to work with the teachers who would then work with the children. If you want your children or your pupils to benefit from this fitness programme then speak to your local education authority or MP and tell them that you want them to support the Bodydoctor “Quid a Kid” fitness campaign.

The Bodydoctor Child Fitness in Schools Programme

Unique Aspect

Not only is this a fun-to-do programme for the children, but it is creating a workforce of young fitness teachers within the classroom as each child, having mastered the technique, then mentors another child and is responsible for that child’s progress, as it is impossible for one teacher to be able to effectively ensure the correct technique of 30 children at a time. Then the programme cascades down through the school. Not only is it worthy on it’s health aspect alone, but it is also financially irresistable and the most cost effective option. As a vote winner it is also more than relevant.

While our celebrity roster is testament to the effectiveness of the programme, we are more concerned about ridding children of the deadly threat of obesity than the glamorous lives of the stars we train. We have already implemented our programme into a primary school in North London, and the transformation in the children’s fitness and wellbeing is immense. UCL is carrying out a study into childhood obesity at Barrow Hill primary school for Key-stage 2 children (years 3 & 4) and this study will prove scientifically the progress of the children that we are working with.

The great thing is that the kids love it, they’re having FUN, and what they’ve said to me about it is that they love learning to be good enough to teach the exercises (Be the expert) to each other, and also at finding out the added benefits, such as physiology and anatomy and also about how they can concentrate better in class etc.

Possible sponsor involvement

The beauty of this initiative is that it’s free, there is no cost other than employing a workforce of trainers and sending them out into the schools around the country to teach the programme. However, this workforce must be funded.

It goes without saying that everyone is aware that this is the ultimate in preventive healthcare and wellness as these children are potential clients of the future. Barrow Hill has taken the initiative to lead the way and show the rest of the country that a desire to find time in the curriculum can have a domino effect throughout the education system. Any large company will be aware that as a social responsibility statement, it couldn’t wish for a better vessel. My job now, having created the programme, is in making sure that it does not go to waste and that the children are given the opportunity to benefit from it.

Obvious first beneficiaries are the children, also the teachers have to master the programme in order to be able to teach it, and then the children take it home, initially as homework leaving the parents and siblings to finally benefit. The at-home stage will require DVD’s to be provided, as well as the basics such as mats and soft balls to be used in the schools. Cost-wise, it’s negligible.