Winchester children get fruity with Bupa

Edited by the Insidemoneytalk editorial team Sep 24, 2008

Children in Winchester will soon be keeping fit and eating healthily thanks to 'Activ-eat', a new initiative for primary schools from the UK's leading health and care company, Bupa.

Dates: Wednesday 24 September 2008 and Tuesday 30 September 2008.

Time: 9am - 10.30am at South Wonston Primary School and Winnal Primary School 9.30am - 11am at Pennington Junior School.

Venues: 24 September at South Wonston Primary School; 24 September at Pennington Junior School and 30 September at Winnal Primary School.

Occasion: Launch of Bupa's Activ-eat, a health education programme for children aged six to nine years.

Photo Opportunities: Pictures of pupils playing active games, tasting exotic fruits and making 'smoothie' drinks.

Pupils aged six to nine from South Wonston Primary School, Winnal Primary School and Pennington Junior School will be taking part in Activ-eat, which has been designed by Bupa to make healthy eating fun and memorable for children.

Activities will take place under the guidance of specially trained volunteers from Bupa's Bereweeke Court Nursing Home, Winchester, and include tasting exotic fruits, making healthy 'smoothie' drinks and playing games which highlight the importance of eating five fruit and vegetables a day.

Dave Keith, who is heading up the volunteers from Bereweeke Court, said: "Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the UK with one in four children now starting primary school overweight or obese.

Bupa has developed Activ-eat to help children find out about healthy eating in a fun but informative way, so they can make better decisions for their health and take this learning into adulthood.

It's really satisfying for the team to know that we're making such an importance difference and supporting local schools as they help children learn about leading a healthy lifestyle." As a part of Activ-eat, children will be given a pedometer each to encourage them to do more physical activity and are left with a three-week challenge to eat five fruit and vegetables a day.

The winners will receive special prizes from Bupa.andnbsp; Bupa will also provide ongoing support to the schools with a series of information booklets throughout the year, offering parents dietary advice for their children.

Bupa plans to deliver the Activ-eat programme to 3,240 children across 27 schools in the UK by the end of 2009.