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Health & Lifestyle
At Westminster Academy, we are encouraging our students to follow an active and healthy lifestyle. Recent media attention, surrounding the rise in obesity levels among both adults and children, has led to actions at a national and local level.
You may have already heard about encouraging your family to eat 5 fruit and vegetables a day as well as becoming more active by walking/cycling to school and participating in sport.
At WA we have launched the “Active Passport“ programme, encouraging and monitoring the amount and frequency of activity during a typical week by students. This includes utilising our state-of-the-art sports complex, engaging in a range of activities from five-a-side football to trampolining.
We have also examined the diet of our students and our dining facilities provide a range of healthy hot and cold food choices encompassing the 5-a-day choices along with the nutrients required to stay healthy.
Advice for parents
In order to help your child lead and maintain a healthy lifestyle we recommend the following:
- If you give your children money to spend on the way to school, encourage them to buy healthier snacks rather than the usual fizzy drinks, crisps and chocolate or provide something healthy for them to take instead (eg a banana or nuts).
- Make sure the adults and older peers of the house eat healthily so they set a good example for younger children to copy.
- Be careful with portion size. A recent study showed that three year olds stopped eating when they were full but five year olds finished their plates no matter what the portion size. Modest portions discourage overeating.
- Make cooking and baking fun - get your child involved and you'll be raising their general knowledge of basic ingredients and cooking skills.
-Introduce new foods gently little by little. There is evidence that it takes 10-11 ‘tries’ for a child to develop a liking for new foods.
Links to Recommended Sites
SFT guidance booklet for parents
Blogs/Advice from fellow parents
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