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Family make healthier choices by using their new motto: “What would BeeZee Bodies say?”

10 year old Zacha has become more conscious of his food and exercise decisions, and his big sister Jazz volunteered with us to complete her DofE award!

When we went into lockdown in 2020, the sports clubs and gyms closed, we spent more time at home snacking and watching Netflix, and many of us of all ages noticed our weight beginning to creep up – including 10 year old Zacha from Hounslow and his mum Loretta. 

“I suppose we got into a bad routine – all of us. I felt unhealthy and had put on weight, and Zacha started to get conscious about not being able to fit into his clothes.” She said.

“It became too easy to snack and we had got into a more sedentary lifestyle. We did try to go out on bike rides, but over this period Zacha was quite reluctant to get active. I noticed him gain weight and had to buy him clothes for an older age. I think he felt a bit down about it”

Concerned, Loretta began looking for a way to combat the unhealthy habits they had fallen in to, and she saw BeeZee Families advertised on Hounslow Matters and signed up. Big sister Jazz came along too!

“We felt it was a good way to make change to join as a family. There is no way Zacha would have felt confident to do this alone. As a family we can keep each other in check!” Loretta said. 

All the family found attending BeeZee Families valuable and each took away something different. Loretta found reinforcing knowledge was great, and liked the handouts and recipes, telling us she keeps them in a folder to refer back to and refresh. Zacha learnt new things about healthy eating, such as what the traffic light labels mean on the foods he eats and has become more conscious of his physical activity. And Jazz, who initially just came for moral support for her little brother, ended up volunteering for us as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award! 

“The course was more than we were expecting, more than just nutrition and PE. There was a lot of interaction which made it really inclusive – it wasn’t boring with people just talking at you! It’s exciting as there is always something to look forward to each week. And there were no complaints from Zacha about coming!”

Just some of the healthy changes the family have made include; walking more places rather than using the car, swapping sugary cereals for eggs (or a cereal with more green traffic lights on the label, and swapping to lower fat cheese and milk.

But this is just the start. The family now have a saying they use at home, when talking about their routine and choices, they ask “What would BeeZee Bodies say?” to help them think about what the healthy choice would be.