As the Welsh Government releases findings from the Welsh Health Survey, Sarah Powell talks the benefits of keeping Wales active in a bid to tackle growing numbers of obesity and other lifestyle-related illnesses.
This morning’s release reveals that the figure remains at 33% for those exercising for half an hour, five times a week. While it’s good to see the figure hasn’t dipped, there has been little change in the amount of physical activity reported since 2003 and 34% still report doing no exercise at all. The picture today reflects the deeply concerning results last week from Public Health Wales’ Child Measurement Programme which highlighted growing numbers of young children with obesity.
Doing nothing is not an option in my opinion. It’s time that collaboration across the health, education and sport sectors moved from well-meaning discussion to a genuine shift in resource to find new ways of working with our colleagues and different approaches the encourage positive behavioural change. It is our duty to be more ambitious for our population, challenging ourselves and our communities in finding new ways to become more active and feel the multiple benefits.
Taking part in sport and physical activity has proven time and time again to have significant health benefits. But how do we encourage more people to be more physically active? We need to make it easier for people to make a positive health choice to get active and stay active. Tackling the mental and physical barriers to participation is key, along with dispelling the myth that sport is only for those with a perceived ability.
There are some really encouraging examples of communities coming together to offer more opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to be physically active. And participants don’t have to be medal-winning athletes to join in. Just look at what has been achieved in Merthyr – community groups from across the area have come together to provide children with the skills, motivation and opportunities to stay healthier and more active. And thanks to a dedicated group of people on Anglesey, the Anglesey Weightlifting and Fitness Centre now plays host to a significant percentage of the island’s population, mobilising its offering to ensure communities in harder to reach places also have opportunities to take part in sport and exercise.
We support and promote initiatives such as these because we recognise that ensuring better health and wellbeing in Wales is not the sole responsibility of the health sector and because if we don’t empower individuals to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing future generations will pay a hefty price. This is why we signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the NHS Confederation – it’s a commitment to pooling expertise, experience and resources as part of a long term approach and sustainable partnership. And it’s vital this agreement translates into positive action.
Over the next few months we’ll be working closely with the NHS Confederation to engage members and partners on promoting physical activity as a way of managing health and wellbeing and I look forward to talking about some of our success stories as we progress with the partnership. In the meantime, we’ll be tweeting further examples of projects and initiatives that continue to support their communities in staying active. Feel free to share your own using the hashtag #keepwalesactive.
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