Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, has launched his party’s new approach to public health. Alongside pledges to take action on alcohol and cigarette packing, is a commitment to place physical activity at the centre of public health policy.
Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Against this backdrop, Labour aims to create ‘new, easily-understandable recommended levels of physical activity and a new national ambition. This will include a basic minimum that everyone who can should try to do, and a recommended level that we should aspire to get at least 50 per cent of people achieving by 2025’.
Labour also wants to give all children a healthy start and empower adults with information to make healthier choices and support efforts to get active.
Today’s launch comes on the same day that research from Cambridge University revealed that inactivity is twice as deadly as obesity.
Researchers estimated that 337,000 of the 9.2 million deaths amongst European men and women each year were attributable to obesity but twice this number of deaths could be attributed to physical inactivity.
Reducing inactivity, which can be as simple as taking a brisk, daily, 20 minute walk, was found to reduce the risk of death, from any cause, by 7%.
Hannah Dobbin, lead policy officer at the Alliance on health, believes that sport and recreation have a key role to play in getting the nation active.
“The Sport and Recreation Alliance recognises the unique role that the sport and recreation sector can play in getting the nation active. The annual value of health benefits from people taking part in sport in England is estimated at £11.2 billion and we know that physical activity can benefit the population by reducing health-related conditions as well as make vital cost savings.”
Emma Boggis, Chief Executive Sport and Recreation Alliance responded to today’s announcement:
“Targets for physical activity are already established but they need to be better understood by the public and, indeed, by healthcare professionals.
“We need to make sure that people looking to get more active are supported in their communities and that means investing in good quality facilities, sports clubs, signposting and expertise.”
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