The government has teamed up with fitness coach Joe Wicks MBE to launch an animated series aimed at getting children to be more active.
Co-created by Mr Wicks and BAFTA-winning Hey Duggee producers Studio AKA, the series features the fitness coach as an animated character alongside six energetic companions known as the Activators.
Each five-minute episode combines animation with upbeat music, encouraging children to enjoy short bursts of movement. The government will be backing the programme to fund a further 10 episodes as part of its aim to shift NHS focus from treating illness to preventing it.
A forthcoming report by the Chief Medical Officer will show that more than a fifth of children are living with obesity by the time they leave primary school, with rates rising to almost one in three in areas of higher levels of poverty and deprivation.
The first episode is now available on Joe Wicks’ The Body Coach YouTube channel, with further episodes set to be released weekly over the summer holidays.
Its release comes five years after Mr Wicks launched PE With Joe during the pandemic, which received over 100 million views. He said Activate was ‘the natural next step in everything I’ve worked towards over the past decade’.
‘This project brings together everything I am most passionate about, and everything I’ve learned on my journey – going back to my own childhood where I discovered movement as a way to cope with the challenges of living with parents with drug addiction and mental health issues,’ said Mr Wicks.
He added that Activate was designed to make movement ‘fun and inclusive’.
‘As a dad, I know how important it is to make movement something kids enjoy, not something they have to do,’ he said.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport Lisa Nandy said that sport and physical activity can help shape a young person’s life.
‘It’s why we’re investing £400 million in grassroots facilities for all, joining up schools with sports clubs across the country and backing major events that inspire,’ she said.
Activate is backed by government funding as part of Plan for Change to give children the best start in life.
