Educating Our Children
Sadly, the number of children and teenagers admitted to hospital with an obesity related condition has increased dramatically in the UK over the last decade. The UK has the highest rate of childhood obesity in Western Europe, costing the NHS an estimated £4.2 billion a year.
Some blame technology as children are spending less time out of doors and more time in front of a computer or video game. Others blame diet following a large increase in the number of fast food facilities in the UK alongside the promotion of an idyllic lifestyle in advertising.
The solution is to firstly educate our children about healthy eating and how to maintain a balanced diet from a young age and secondly, to ensure that they have regular exercise. In order to minimise the risk of health issues in later life Government guidelines recommend that children aged 5-18 should spend at least one hour a day carrying out aerobic and strength exercise.
How Can Schools Help To Reduce Childhood Obesity?
Hire Fitness and the Redgrave Legacy
Research shows that children who regularly exercise and are fit tend to achieve better academic results, have more confidence, greater self-esteem and lower anxiety levels than those who are less active. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day can result in improved academic performance.. Obesity in the UK can be tackled by increasing school gym facilities. Structured sessions in a gym during the school day help to encourage a long term interest in fitness and wellbeing.
What is the Redgrave Legacy?
Hire Fitness works in partnership with the Redgrave Legacy, an initiative developed by the Redgrave Institute. The Institute has plans to develop health and leisure centres at various locations in the UK, starting with Chester. The aim is to educate children and improve sports and leisure facilities across the country. Aided by a unique lease funding model from Investec the work will focus on increasing young children’s participation in sport. Hire Fitness is currently supplying fitness equipment to schools in the Manchester area and will work in conjunction with the Legacy team to roll the scheme out throughout the rest of the UK.
Fully Managed Gym Solutions
Design, Installation and Advice On Your School Gym
Hire Fitness has 13 years experience of advising on the day to day management of school gyms, designing the facility and installing the equipment. We tailor our level of involvement based on your requirements: we can be with you from conception to completion and beyond or join you at any stage of the project. In addition to our years of experience we also have first class design software which is utilised to ensure you develop the best possible school gym in the space available to you.
What Fitness Equipment Will Be Needed In A School Gym?
The space available to you and the likely number of users are important factors when designing a school gym. The main areas you should consider when designing a school gym are:
What Else Will Your School Gym Need?
Health and Safety Advice
Hire Fitness can advise on all aspects of health and safety in a gym environment as a result of our many years of experience. We can advise you on the strict guidelines surrounding the maintenance of a safe environment, for example:
• Informing your insurance company
• Adopting a buddy system to ensure that nobody works on their own at certain points in the day
• Drawing up a risk analysis
• Concealing power cables
• Ensuring that an emergency contact is easy to use and obvious to children/teenagers
• First Aid kits are available
• Regular servicing and safety checking of all fitness equipment
Fully Managed School Gyms
We can provide a comprehensive after sales package which includes regular planned maintenance and servicing plus fully qualified, experienced gym managers if required.