Apr

6

Topic: Childhood Obesity News - More playgrounds to help combat childhood obesity - Liverpool Daily Post

Filed Under Childhood Obesity News | Leave a Comment

MERSEYSIDE will lead a new drive to lure children away from TVs and computer screens as part of a £235m cash injection to build exciting new play areas. And every local authority in the country will receive a share of the £235m, which will pay for a total of 3,500 new or rebuilt play areas across England. Meanwhile, the average age at which children are allowed out to play on their own has risen from seven years old in the 1970s, to over eight years. Mr Balls, who wants parents to feel their children are safe away from their own home or garden, pledged help for councils to stamp out bullying in play areas and improve road safety. And he accused some councils of using the fear of being sued by litigious parents as an “easy excuse” to cut back on exciting playgrounds – calling for a return of “the fear factor” in children’s play. Last week, Tanya Byron, the TV psychologist reviewing the risks of computer games and the internet for the government, warned technology had “driven a generation of children indoors”. Read Childhood Obesity

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