How Can We Stop Childhood Obesity?

At STM we’re great believers in not letting vital initiatives lose their momentum. That’s why we’re revisiting a topic of paramount importance, and something very close to our hearts: childhood obesity. Plus, we’re going to ask for your help - more on this later!

Earlier this year we blogged about research that showed the average cost of childhood obesity over a lifetime in the USA came out at $19,000. Since then we’ve been on a mission to help schools in the UK get kids active with our EPIC playground surfaces and sports pitches.

Just a few days ago a story hit the news that reinforced the need for this kind of action. The article focused on the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health survey’s discovery that nearly 20% of children in Northern Ireland are now overweight before they start primary school. It’s a sobering thought; one that drives us to push for change and really make a difference where we can.

The study highlights a problem no only for unhealthy children, but a future of unhealthy adults. At STM, we believe the problem needs to be tackled here and now.

So what are we doing to help?

You may have already heard about our playground system: EPIC, or Education & Play In Colour. It’s a system we’ve designed, made from vibrant and colourful artificial grass, to encourage children to enjoy physical activity. Because we’ve been working with schools for over 15 years, we know that it can be hard for children to get excited about exercise when playgrounds are dull and grey. That’s why we’ve developed a system that really pushes the fun elements of playing outside.

Let’s keep the initiative alive

We think the best way to keep debates and initiatives alive is to keep on talking about them. Join the discussion by tweeting us @SyntheticTurfM - the more contributors to the conversation the better! Do you have ideas about how we should be tackling childhood obesity? Perhaps ones that haven’t been put forward yet? Are you a teacher that sees the damaging effects of ‘sedentary lifestyles’ amongst your pupils? What do you think we should be doing to help?

Let’s get talking - let’s make a difference!

@SyntheticTurfM