Nuffield Health mobilising 11- to 16-year-old girls with free classes

In a bid to get girls more active, Nuffield Health has launched a campaign, Move Together, encouraging parents to exercise with their daughters.

Nuffield Health will be offering free classes to all 11- to 16-year-old girls this summer, with their parents also being able to redeem a free gym pass so they can exercise together.

This move has been inspired by the company’s Healthier Nation Index research, which revealed the importance of parents and caregivers modelling healthy movement habits to their daughters.

Of those surveyed, 80 per cent of parents believe they positively influence their daughters’ movement habits and 76 per cent of daughters, aged 11 to 16, agree. More than half of the parents – 57 per cent – said they would like to exercise with their daughters more often to spend quality time together.

Twenty four per cent of parents say they are motivated to exercise in order to be a healthy role model and 34 per cent want to exercise more frequently in order to model good habits.

The research also revealed inherited attitudes towards movement. Among the less active, 48 per cent of parents say it was because they weren’t raised in a sporty family and 25 per cent weren’t encouraged to be active by their parents and caregivers.

Hannah Maxwell, group exercise manager and personal trainer at Nuffield Health says: “Our data shows parents recognise the hurdles their daughters face regarding movement, but want to enjoy exercise more together, which is really positive.

“By providing accessible free classes and gym passes, we aim to break down these barriers for parents and the young girls they look after and encourage families to incorporate fun, regular, physical activity into their lives.”

Former Lioness and Nuffield Health ambassador, Fara Williams, is raising awareness of the Move Together programme: “From my experiences of teaching young girls, I know how crucial it is for them to find an activity they enjoy, because it helps instil those habits of staying active. Move Together classes are a great way to do this – they’re free, accessible and fun, helping to address some of the barriers young girls are facing today.”

According to Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Report 2022-2023 there has been an uptick in the activity levels of girls, especially 13- to 16-year-olds, which has been helped by grassroots efforts, as well as inspirational role modelling from the likes of the Lionesses.