Healthy eating features

Family life is something most of us take for granted, yet the amount of quality time we spend with our families seems to be ever-shrinking. National Family Week is a new initiative that aims to reverse that trend...

According to a poll commissioned last year by National Family Week, the average British family spends just 45 minutes a day together - considerably less time than many of us spend commuting to and from work each day.

It's not just the amount of time we spend together that's important, of course, but the quality. And with all the competing demands on our time, energy and emotional resources, finding quality time can be highly challenging.

Unlike some other countries and states around the world, including South Africa, Australian Capital Territory, the US state of Arizona and several states in Canada, the UK has no public holiday dedicated to celebrating the family.

The organisers of National Family Week aim to address this omission with an annual week of events and activities aimed at families. While a range of family-oriented events is planned during the Week itself, the campaign hopes to encourage families to spend more quality time together all year round.

Launched in 2009, National Family Week "celebrates the important role families play in society, as well as the great diversity of families in the UK", says co-founder Kevin Steele. "Families are the bedrock of our lives and the cornerstones of our communities," he adds.

According to Family Week Limited, the family-run company that organises the campaign, National Family Week aims to highlight the importance of families spending quality time together and promote the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle.

The aims of the Week are supported by the leaders of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, as well as a long list of media and sports celebrities, local councils, charities, sports bodies, and other national and community organisations that support children and families.

The NSPCC, Gingerbread, Parenting UK, the Children's Society, Families First, 4 Children and Action for Children are among the thousands of national and local organisations that endorse the aims of the Week.

The planned activities during the Week have a healthy lifestyle focus to tie in with other national initiatives aimed at families, such as Change4Life.

To get families cooking healthy meals together, for example, celebrity chefs have provided recipe suggestions designed to appeal to adults and children alike.

Antony Worrall Thompson, celebrity chef and National Family Week ambassador, believes food is of central importance to family life:

"Around food is when so many important things are developed, like communication skills, manners and solving family problems, but we also tend to eat much more healthily at home than out."

According to behaviour analyst Judi James, the daily ritual of sit-down meals has important psychological and social benefits both for the family as a unit and for individual members. "It's one of the best bonding rituals, making everyone feel safer and less stressed," she says.

From May 31 to June 6, partners and sponsors of the initiative will be coming up with a wide range of ideas and activities to encourage families to get out and about together or spend time at home enjoying family activities.

The organisers say that more than 5,000 fun family events will be held all over the country during the Week. Highlights include:

Monday 31 May	Family Week Picnic: Over 1,000 picnics organised throughout the country with nine regional flagship events.
Tuesday 1 June	Family Week Film Day: Favourite family films showing in cinemas throughout the country.
Wednesday 2 June	Family Week Story Time: Story Time sessions and activities organised throughout shopping centres, local libraries and other locations.
Saturday 5 June	Family Week Sports Day: National Guinness World Record attempt for the Largest Three-Legged Race in Multiple Locations. Over 1,000 activities running across the UK, including eight regional flagship events.

You can search for events in your own area using the interactive map on the Family Week website at http://www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk/whats_on.

In addition to the organised events, people are being encouraged to organise or host their own family-themed event for friends and family or to raise money for charity. Not-for-profit organisations can register their event and access supporting resources on the Partner Zone area of the website at http://www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk/partner_zone.

National Family Week
http://www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk

Change4Life
http://www.nhs.uk/Change4life/Pages/Default.aspx

For additional ideas on getting your family cooking, eating and exercising together, check out some of our other features:

Cooking with Kids http://nutritionandfitness.axappphealthcare.co.uk/eating_features36.html

Retro Eating
http://nutritionandfitness.axappphealthcare.co.uk/eating_features25.html

Recipe for a Happy Family http://nutritionandfitness.axappphealthcare.co.uk/mind_features8.html

Putting the Fun into Family Fitness http://nutritionandfitness.axappphealthcare.co.uk/fitness_features22.html

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