This year, the school I work at, initiated The Daily Mile. Now to be very honest, my initial thoughts on this were on the negative side, thinking of it as just another thing added to our already heavy workload. Nevertheless, we started it and the children were ecstatic about it, to say the least! Well this euphoria was certainly contagious and it took one run to get me hooked! 🙂  It was embraced by staff, parents and pupils and having now recognised the benefits, I thoroughly enjoy running with my pupils, most of the time. ❤ ❤

This post hopes to answer some questions which have been raised by both pupils and parents about the daily mile and its benefits.

It all started in 2013, when staff at one Scottish primary school implemented this pioneering new scheme, The Daily Mile. The initiative was designed to tackle childhood obesity and has since been praised by national and international healthcare experts. Children are to be physically active for 15 mins a day and can choose to run and or walk a mile, my class opted for running, and it’s what we strive for.

But can running one mile a day really make a difference to kids lives?

Dr Kay Brennan, Sports and Exercise Medicine Doctor, GP and Physical Activity Clinical Champion for Public Health England, is confident it will. ‘The link between physical inactivity and obesity in children is well established. One in 10 children is obese when they start primary school and only 21 per cent of boys and 15 per cent of girls aged 5 to 15 in England take the physical activity they need for good development,’ she says.

‘Getting young children to run or walk a mile each day will not solve our childhood obesity problem, but adding these extra few minutes of physical activity into the curriculum is a great way to reduce a child’s sitting time and boost their metabolic rate, burning calories long after they have returned to class. Being physically active will also improve a child’s self-esteem, body confidence, sleep and concentration. We also know from large studies that there is a strong link between being physically active and improved academic achievement.’ (runnersworld.co.uk)

So, in a nutshell, its seen to improve fitness and increase academic performance. Being fit and healthy can start at an early age. Good habits, which are formed at an early age are more likely to follow into adulthood. ❤

Children have already noticed an improvement in their overall fitness as they are no longer out of breath as much, and so have I! 🙂

What do you think about The Daily Mile? Is it worth a try in your school?

Till next time…

All images downloaded from the internet.