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Youngsters across the UK are being armed with essential skills to enable them to deliver healthy lifestyle messages to their peers, in an initiative by leading awarding body YMCA Awards, which attempts to tackle a number of issues, including childhood obesity, drug abuse, and the rise of sexually transmitted infections. 
 
The organisation, which awards 30,000 certificates to active leisure professionals each year, is currently rolling out its 'Young Health Champions' qualification, which equips youngsters with the necessary knowledge to educate their peers on a number of sensitive social issues.  
 
The qualification bridges the gap between informal and higher level training, and enables learners - either those working with youngsters already, or young people keen to educate their peers - to deliver healthy lifestyle messages at a community level. 
 
Following the launch of a report by ukactive Kids this week, highlighting the severity of child inactivity in UK primary schools, YMCA Awards is now calling for every local authority and school to have a Young Health Champion. 
 
Rob May, director of YMCA Awards, said: 
 
"The release of the ukactive Kids' report presents a worrying situation of child inactivity in the UK. As the world's oldest and largest charity for young people, we feel it our responsibility to deliver solutions which set to address this type of issue. 
 
“Changes to physical activity shouldn’t be done in isolation, but in context with other issues such as diet and lifestyle choices. Our Young Health Champions qualification gives learners the necessary skills, socially and professionally, to educate their peers on a range of negative and positive lifestyle choices. 
 
"Unsurprisingly, lower socio-economic groups are dragging behind in participation in physical activity. This comes back to the age-old problem of fitness and wellbeing activities, and the best facilities, being most accessible to higher socio-economic groups.
 
"Young Health Champions attempts to help address this imbalance by empowering local community activists with the skills and knowledge to reach disenfranchised groups of young people." 
 
YMCA Awards is currently supporting a petition by early years specialist, teacher and researcher, Dr Lala Manners, which calls for more emphasis on exercise for young children.