children, gardening, both good for you...

[bikermike]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...ing-to-the-gym

"Current UK guidelines recommend adults do strength and balance exercises twice a week, but few of us meet them. �We�ve coined it �the forgotten guideline�,� says Foster, adding that it is just as (if not more) important for older adults. Carrying heavy shopping bags an extra few hundred metres to a car parked further away, climbing stairs or even balancing on one leg are all options; the latest draft guidance from the CMO also suggests digging in the garden or lifting and carrying a child."

so there you go, I hate to point out the alignment of the grapevine to the more, ahem, senior, demographic, but there it is - get out there gardening (on one leg, whilst carrying a child for max benefit...

(CMO = Chief Medical Officer)

[1Bee]

Been there, done that.

[lottie dolly]

I can see it now for the future,Boot camp work out for the retired,could be made compulsery

[Miss Mousetrousers]

I think they're telling us something we already knew! Never having had children of my own, just to being in my garden with my niece's two little ones is a wonder to behold! Her eldest loves to eat strawberries and raspberries straight from the plant and also to help us find potatoes we've left in the soil when we're digging them up. My niece has her own plot and has really enjoyed choosing various veg seeds to sow and grow so she can use them in their meals. Little sunny-smiling Johnathan has just turned two so we got him a set of gardening tools and can't wait until he gets the enjoyment of having stuff he's helped to grow. You might think I've gone off topic but no. All that bending down to sow or plant, pushing my great-niece on her swing, taking turns to rock Jonathan's pram, walking back inside to make a brew etc, etc, really helps not only with my osteoarthritis but my mental health. Deepjoys!

[gardening_gal]

I can see it now for the future,Boot camp work out for the retired,could be made compulsery

I really don't do well with 'compulsory'. I'd have to be a militant I'm afraid. With obligatory placard of course.

[veggiechicken]

I don't do well with "children" - so anyone who has them is welcome to carry them around on my behalf. Dogs keep me active and I don't need the CMO to tell me that.