FORMER Olympic medal athlete Kriss Akabusi joined forces with St Helens and Great Britain Rugby League star Kieron Cunningham when they visited St George's Primary School in Wallasey as part of a regional tour to launch the 'Get Sported' campaign.

'Get Sported' is a children's fitness campaign by sports shoe brand CICA to encourage young people primarily aged between eight and 12 to be more active. Research shows in the UK children need more exercise to stay healthy and fit. Appparently they spend less time on physical education than any of their European counterparts. Britain came 13th out of 25 nations with France top, followed by Austria and Switzerland. Experts believe that the lack of activity shown increases the chance of ill health later in life, including high blood pressure, obesity and cancer of the colon.

Said Kriss Akabusi: "I firmly believe that if you motivate and encourage young people, as well as offer them the opportunity to try different activities, nearly all respond very positively.

"Get Sported is all about having a go and getting involved, either by yourself or with your mates. And as the research shows, if you don't start when you're young, you're far less likely to be active as an adult, which means you miss out long term."

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