Open the playgrounds: ‘Not only is this good for mental health but essential for physical wellbeing’

• WHILE the playgrounds run by the Corporation of London and in neighbouring boroughs (Westminster and Barnet) opened on July 4, following the lifting of the government restrictions, the children of Camden were not so lucky.

Shockingly a week later and the playgrounds show no signs of opening. For one of the most deprived boroughs in Europe, where so many children have no access to the open air from their homes, this is especially shocking.

A health expert is suggesting children are weighed on their return to school in September and again in spring 2021 to identify which need help with their weight a year after lockdown began.

Surely the 16 weeks of lockdown was sufficient time to write some guidelines and install hand gel around the boroughs playgrounds?

Apparently not. A mere handful have reopened thereby increasing close contact by desperate families.

With children not in full school and at the height of summer, an inexpensive, healthy pleasant morning or afternoon can be spent in the playground with friends and a picnic. Not only is this good for mental health but essential for physical wellbeing.

For young children the lack of whole body exercise (jumping, climbing, swinging) known as gross motor skills, will mean that their muscles will not be strong enough to develop fine motor skills needed for learning to write.

In our first world country it is disappointing that there is no more awareness among people in power of how children grow and learn.

LARA MAX
Address supplied