January 2005

It was the first Brownie meeting after Christmas and everyone was really excited to be back. We were all swapping stories about presents and Sophie was showing off her Bratz doll in a Brownie uniform. Her mum’s a dressmaker and had made the whole little outfit for her Christmas stocking.

Anyway…we were all so busy chatting we didn’t notice Brown Owl had a special guest for us to meet. I’m not really sure how we manage to miss him. He was very tall with HUGE muscles and was wearing those sports shorts and a vest like all the runners wore at the Olympic Games.

“I’m sure like me you’ve all eaten far too many mince pies over Christmas,” joked Brown Owl “so Jeff’s here to give us all a few tips on keeping fit and healthy for the New Year.

“He’s going to tell us about all the things you can do at the local sports centre where he works and then he’ll warm you up with a quick work-out. I hope you all remembered to bring your trainers with you.”

Jeff was a gym trainer and nutrition expert - he told us that’s someone who knows all about healthy food – and he started by telling us lots of stuff about the things we eat. Did you know some breakfast cereals contain lots of salt even though they taste sweet? Or that too much fatty food like burgers and chips is bad for your heart and stops the blood pumping round your body properly? I didn’t know all that!

Jeff said we should all try to eat five lots of fruit and vegetables a day – fresh fruit juice counts too – because they’re so good for us. And we should try to do an hour’s exercise every day.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to go for a run or play sport for an hour. Walking to school or taking the dog out is good exercise and you can even run up and down the stairs a few times just to get your heart pumping,” he said.

Jeff said lots of children were unhealthy and obese – that means dangerously overweight – because they ate the wrong food and sat and watched television or played computer games instead of running around outside.

Then he told us about all the clubs that his sports centre ran for children – there were loads! He said swimming club and boys’ indoor football were the most popular but there was also squash, badminton, trampolining, gymnastics, karate, judo…I can’t even remember them all!

He gave each of us a voucher for a free swim at the pool and then said: “Right girls, up on your feet, let’s get those hearts pumping!”

He got us jogging round the hall, doing star jumps and squats. Even Brown Owl joined in (though she looked a bit red and puffed out by the end!).

When mum came to pick me up I was pleased to see she’d walked with Wizzie instead of bringing the car.

“That’s the idea,” Jeff said “ Every little helps.”

If you want to find out more about Brownies and Guides in your local area why not visit their excellent web site:

www.girlguiding.org.uk