Big Way Of Life

Merthyr Tydfil's Fun, Food and Fitness Programme (FFF) has been offering all sorts of activities to children in the area to get them interested in healthy living and it seems to be working.

Their delivery team have been offering healthy and fun cooking sessions where they have concocted delights such as homemade pizzas, delicious soups and smoothies and have also been cooking and tasting different foods from around the world including green curry from Thailand and spring rolls from China. All this went towards promoting the 5-a-day everyone should strive towards.

Alongside the healthy eating programmes, the project also ran several activities designed to get children their 60 minutes of activity, five times a week. This included more unusual pursuits such as American football, basketball, yoga and tai chi. These also helped the children learn that it is important to take care of their muscles, heart and lungs.

The Grow it Green activities have also gone down very well, teaching the children new skills and learning by doing rather than being in a classroom. They have been digging and planting, growing mustard, cress, tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes, all of which provide important nutrients and vitamins.

Over 240 local children spread across 4 local primary schools have had great fun benefiting from the FFF programme with regular festivals held to celebrate the children's achievement with their families, friends and neighbours with cooking demonstrations, food tasting, grow it green challenges and keep fit activities spreading the Fun, Food and Fitness message.

And that message is certainly hitting the spot.

"Cooking sessions were my favourite", said one 11-year-old girl from Coed Y Dderwen. "It doesn't need to be fast food to taste nice – it can be nice and healthy."

Similarly, one 11-year-old boy from Pantyscallog school was full of praise for the Grow it Green programme. He said: "It was interesting to learn where different vegetables come from because I never knew before. I also felt proud growing beetroot when I was able to take it home and cook it."

The physical activities also seemed to go down a storm. Another 11-year-old girl from Coed Y Dderwen said: "I like sports, it's good for your muscles and heart. And by making it fun, you don't realise you are working your body. It helps keep your body stay fit, giving you more energy and it makes me feel happy that I have exercised."

We have also got a host of photos from the project for you to have a look at and don't forget, you too can have you project featured here, so don't hesitate to drop us a line and tell us what you have been up to.