The government has released a new scheme called ‘choosing activity’ and this is a cross department action plan for improving the nation’s health and levels of activity. The government are recommending that people should do at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each day for children, and for younger children it has been said 30 minutes. Only 50% of older people do physical exercise, and hopefully by 2011 70% will be exercising. The government have made two promises.
The first is to raise the awareness of the health risks of obesity that will be launched in March 2007. 13 The main target for this is the North East of England although they do aim to target everywhere including London. The second promise of the government is that they are trying to make all schools healthy by encouraging healthy eating in schools. They are trying to get 50% of schools to be healthy by 2006 and all of the schools healthy by 2009. The white paper is a tremendous catalyst for FIA members, making marketing plans and all industry participants.
They have funded about i?? 30 million in 2006/07 and approximately i?? 40 million per annul for 2007/08. Being inactive means that you will be running a higher risk of developing obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and depression. 14 Elderly people have the right to exercise as much as anyone else, as long as the training programs are well balanced and not pushing their limits to much. They are still able to gain muscle strength. It is a fact that 4 out of 10 people over 50 take no exercise at all. 15
95% of people know that physical activity is good for them but they do nothing about it and this is very worrying considering that it is their life that they are affecting, but only 28% of the population are doing something about it and taking part in activities and are doing at least 30 minutes of exercise per day and most of the people doing this are older. Scientists did experiments and found that the hearts of male athletes between the ages of 50 and 70 were as powerful as those of 20 year old sedentary individuals.
Cable explains that “in terms of the aging process, they may be chronologically old but biologically they have internal function of a 20 year old person and their everyday functional capacity is far superior to their peers. “‘ 16 The results of the experiment show that there should be no reason for elderly people to not be taking part in some form of physical activity because it can still be a great benefit to these people even though they are more elderly. In the news recently there has been talk about the pensioners’ playground and it is the first if its kind that we have in this country.
‘The i?? 15,000 outdoor facility in Blackley, Greater Manchester features six pieces of fitness equipment designed specifically to provide gentle exercise for the over-60s. ’17 It is a place designed for multiple purpose. Obviously the main one is to help elderly people to exercise with more ease but it also gives them the chance to meet other people in their area and get them out and about. Many of the residents that have used the new playground say that it has brought back a youthful feeling and is now providing them with something to do in the community.
It has been a great success and has been said that when the weather improves they think that it will really start to take off. They are hoping that this will be of great success in other places around the country and this will therefore lead to many more similar playground sites being introduced all over the country. Men Men are becoming an increasingly worrying category and this had got them the name of the “hard to reach group”. A lot of men work in and around London and this means that by the time they have come home from their job they have little if any time to take part in leisure activities.
According to the chief medical officer only 37% of men in England are sufficiently active to gain any benefits to there health. ‘Males over the age of 15 were 3 times more likely than women to kill the selves with suicides accounting for around a quarter of all deaths in this group. ’18 ‘Obesity, smoking, high cholesterol and lack of exercise were all key factors detrimental to men’s health. 60% of men with cardiovascular dieses were overweight or obese and 40% of men in the UK admit to drinking in excess of the recommended daily intake.
’19 This clearly shows that people are not looking after there bodies in the way that they should be These are six points that have been made to help men hopefully become more aware of the lifestyles that they are living and to try to change their lifestyles for the better to make them more healthy individuals and to increase their life expectancy. Southwark have introduced a new program which they were starting to run in 2005. This includes different fitness classes that vary so they can suit all sorts of intervals.
Some of the activities that they can take part in are things like circuit training, boxing, kayaking, swimming, football, cricket and the list goes on. There is a free phone number that people can call to request information if people wish to require details on different aspects of the programmes that area available to them. Men can also purchase a health card which only costs i?? 1 and lasts for the whole length of the programme. This is good for an individual because it gives men access to specific men’s health activities.
This is a good idea for promoting the health of men as they can become more aware and have more activities which are becoming more available, also the numbers of different classes and activities means that there is something for everyone to try so there are no excuses from men that there is nothing that they want to do. ‘Exercise makes your body stronger, fitter and more flexible. It protects your heart and bones, keeps your weight at an ideal level, helps reduce stress and makes you feel good.
It also reduces the risk of a range of illnesses including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. ’20 This definition provides us with a simple explanation of why you should be taking part in exercise and why it is so important for people to take part in sports. More health and fitness clubs are turning to educational reasoning with its members. This means that not only will they be taught how to exercise properly but they will also be taught about the right and wrong foods to eat and this therefore creates a healthier lifestyle for the individual.