As a child, memories of running around and playing in the street may be among your favourites, but for your children, it seems that playing on the computer is more appealing than being outside in the sunshine.
Parenting on Female First
A new study has revealed that exercise amongst seven year old children is at a low, as a staggering 62% of girls and 37% of boys do not get adequate exercise.
The UK has an average of 1339.7 hours of sunshine per year, yet the average child only spends 520 hours outside per year, meaning that children only endure sunshine for an hour and a half a day.
These shocking results reveal that children prefer the comforts of their home, playing on gadgets and watching TV, rather than making dens in the garden or climbing trees.
The survey also revealed that children have access to up to five screens at home and regularly have at least two on-the-go at any one time, racking up over six hours screen time per day. As a result, 20% of parents said they wouldn’t even attempt to get kids off their devices and in to the open air.
The great outdoors is not only good for exercise, education and social development but is ideal for family days out. 8 in 10 families have never gone fishing or star gazing, and just under a quarter of kids have never visited a farm.
It seems Britain’s longstanding love of picnics needs reviving too, with almost 5 million children in the UK never having been on a picnic, despite 34% of parents saying a picnic would be the perfect family day out.
Pork Farms, Britain’s favourite pork pie baker, is launching their Social Summer campaign, which encourages families and friends to ditch the day-to-day distractions in life and get together more often.
Sally Whittle, spokesperson for the campaign and founder of popular parenting site the Foodies 100, commented: “It’s astonishing to hear that some UK parents are worried they wouldn’t be able to get children out of the house for a family day out. Interacting with each other is such an important part of family life and getting kids outdoors ensures they’re kept healthy and happy. Picnics are a great way to keep the whole family entertained and I hope the Pork Farms Social Summer campaign will help highlight the need for us to enjoy the great outdoors more often.”