Heart charity bemoans ‘couch potato families’

A lack of interest in excercise has bred a culture of couch potato families, the British Heart Foundation has lamented. They have pointed to a BHF-funded, University of Bristol-led study, showing that few families are making it a priority to spend ‘active time’ together because they are more divided than ever in terms of their interests.

Family time is more likely to be spent doing communal, but sedentary activities: watching TV, eating meals or playing video and board games.

The BHF believes that, in order to overcome Britain’s obesity epidemic – which currently sees around a quarter of adults obese or overweight – families need to get out more. Instead of staying stuck indoors, glued to the Wii, the BHF says, young families should focus on exercise.

There are plenty of ways parents can introduce their children to exercise at a young age, be it cycling, walking, playing sports or even just throwing a Frisbee around in the summer. In Bristol, the BHF is now working with 10 children’s centres in deprived areas of the city to help provide free family activity classes.

A quarter of children in Bristol are overweight or obese by the time they reach the first year of primary school, and across the whole of Britain, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions.

It is thought when children become obese at a young age, they may be setting themselves up for a lifetime of weight problems. It is feared that if no action is taken to save younger generations from obesity, a quarter of the population may be overweight or obese in coming years.

Awareness campaigns such as those run by the BHF are a vital compliment to government campaigns like Change 4 Life (promoting nutrition) that are helping people to wake up to the realities of obesity. Obesity is a major cause of heart problems, diabetes, and many other dangerous health conditions.