I had dragged the kids to my soccer training, on a school night, and was thinking perhaps they should be at home, getting ready for bed instead of rolling around in the grass tackling each other and generally just running amok.

But then I got one email with the subject header, “Australia children’s overall fitness levels are falling”, and another which said, “Screen time – how much is OK for your kids?”.

They both made me feel better because, even though it was 7pm on a school night, the kids were at least being active and were not at home glued to the TV.

The first email told me Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) have launched a new resource to help parents take action where their kids’ activity levels are concerned.

“It’s our responsibility to take control and ensure the future health of Australia’s children,” ESSA chief executive officer Ms Anita Hobson-Powell said. 

“As parents, we play a direct role in helping our children maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, and it’s important that we ... realise there’s more to be done.” 

The resource was the result of the Australian Health Survey (AHS) 2011-2012, which indicated that only one in three children, and one in 10 young people, undertook the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

It found only 19 per cent of Australian children and young people aged 5-17 years accumulated 60 minutes of exercise each day and only 33-39 per cent of primary school students engaged in at least 120 minutes of exercise a week.

“With the advancement of technology, it has also become more challenging to ensure children are spending time being active than in front of a screen,” Ms Hobson-Powell said.

She said evidence of this was shown in the survey results as only 29 per cent of Australian children and young people met the sedentary behaviour screen time guidelines of two hours or under every day.

Don’t get me wrong, our kids have their fair share of screen time, and we don’t even have iPads in our house! We do try to counteract that by getting them outside and running around.

But I know there would be plenty of families out there who maybe don’t get out and active for various reasons and could benefit from the ESSA’s resource Exercise Right for Kids (www.exerciseright.com.au/kids). It also has information on ways kids with medical conditions or disabilities can get active.

We are spoiled for parks, reserves, beaches and community events designed to get people active in the Hunter region.

Places like parkrun, a free community-inspired 5km event which can be ran or walked at your own pace, is also a good place for the whole family to start.

Or taking the kids to watch events like Surfest and the Australian Bowl Riding Championships can inspire them to get moving too.

Renee Valentine is a writer, qualified personal trainer and mother of three. r.valentine@fairfaxmedia.com.au.