For the second year running Active Nation has launched it's Kids Tryathlon series with a bang, inviting 400 children to join them for a sport and exercise extravaganza in Lincoln.

The event, which took place at Yarborough Leisure Centre on Tuesday 26th June 2012, was part of the Charity's national initiative to encourage children to be more actively engaged in sport and exercise.

400 children from 4 different Lincolnshire schools attended the event to try a range of activities and take part in the Tryathlon. Activities included Swimming, Cycling and Running, plus Street Golf, Hockey, Lacrosse, Sitting Volleyball, New Age Curling, a Climbing Wall and Karate.

The purpose of the event was to help children discover new sports and exercise activities that they may not have tried before, and then offer them pathways to further continue their new found interest in this historic Olympic year. It also created a valuable opportunity to gain an insight into the attitudes and engagement of children towards physical activity.

The Kids Tryathlon concept began in 2011 as a positive way of influencing young people's attitudes towards sport and exercise. The Lincoln event had particular significance since research in 2010 revealed that 19.5% of children aged 11 years old across the county were measured as obese.

The pilot event launched in 2011 was held across 3 venues in Southampton, Abingdon and Lincoln attracting over 900 children. Pre-event participants were surveyed to reveal that only 29% felt completely confident participating in sport and exercise and only 56% met the Department of Health's recommended 5 x 30 minutes of activity per week. Post event the children were re-evaluated to discover that 94% of those who took part were more inclined to try out a new sport or exercise activity in future.

To continue last year's success, this year Active Nation plans to make the event series bigger and better. Five more Kids Tryathlon events are planned for 2012 across Southampton, Chorley, Abingdon and South Derbyshire attracting 3,100 children in total.