Families Urged to Bring Back the Christmas Day Walk

The Change4Life campaign is bringing back the traditional Christmas day walk and calling on families across the area to burn off their Christmas dinner and be more active over the festive season.

If every person took to the streets, fields or beaches after their festive treats, then families in England could walk a combined 50 million miles on Christmas day alone.

But with a typical Christmas lunch of turkey and pudding clocking up almost 1,500 calories – over half of men’s recommend daily calorie intake and three quarters of women’s – Walk4Life, part of the Change4Life movement, is calling on families to bring back this Christmas tradition en masse.

According to the British Nutrition Foundation a typical Christmas dinner is 1,470 calories.

2 slices of turkey (with skin) - 225 kcal

Sausage meat stuffing - 185 kcal

4 small roast potatoes - 400 kcal

Portion of sprouts (boiled) - 30 kcal

Portion of roast parsnips -100 kcal

Serving of gravy - 50 kcal

Serving of Christmas pudding - 330 kcal

Double cream (tbspn) - 150 kcal

Total 1470 kcal

To celebrate the return of the traditional Christmas walk, Walk4Life has teamed up with The Ramblers to release the top ten walks to inspire families to get on their feet.

The walk in South Devon that they have suggested is the Discovery Walk, in Dawlish – which they say offers ‘fantastic sea views as you walk along the coast’.