caring Communication

How to get half a million more people
taking regular exercise
Key Features of
website
January 2016 marked the publication of Ireland’s
first ever ‘National Physical Activity Plan, which aims
to get at least half a million more Irish people taking
regular exercise within ten years.
The key target is to increase the number of people
taking regular exercise by 1 per cent a year over 10
years — that’s around 50,000 people per year, or half
a million individuals in total, by making exercise a
normal part of everyday life and giving people more
opportunities to be active.
Currently, it is estimated that seven out of 10 adults
don’t get enough exercise. At least €5.5 million in
funding across three Government Departments
has been ring-fenced to implement the plan in
2016, comprising sports measures, Healthy Ireland
initiatives, Sport Ireland programme funding, and
education projects.
Key features include
• Increase the number of people taking regular
exercise by 50,000 every year for the next ten years;
• A new annual campaign to encourage more
people to get active more often, including social
media campaigns and a new Physical Activity Week
as part of the European Week of Sport;
• Support 500 new community walking groups, and
extend the Active School Flag Programme to another
500 schools;
• Health professionals will get further training on
using physical activity to prevent or treat chronic
conditions;
• Build on the success of Get Ireland Walking by
setting up new initiatives like Get Ireland Swimming,
Get Ireland Cycling and Get Ireland Running;
• The getirelandactive.ie website will be expanded
as a one-stop-shop for physical activity, including a
public database of national sports and recreation
facilities;
• There will be a new push to get employers to
encourage Healthy Workplace initiatives through
walking and exercise activities, standing desks and
other measures;
• More physical activity will be provided for people
with physical or mental disabilities through guidelines
and support materials;
• New guidelines will be developed on sedentary
behaviour, including warnings about the dangers of
lengthy inactivity;
• The National Council for Curriculum and
Assessment will finalise a new PE curriculum
framework at Senior Cycle level;
• A new school subject called ‘Wellbeing’ will be
launched next September as part of the new Junior
Cycle to include Physical Education;
• Healthy lifestyles will be promoted in primary
and secondary schools. Physical activity will be used
as an educational tool, especially at primary level,
and a Professional Development Support Service on
physical activity will be set up for teachers.
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said: “In Health,
the focus is generally on the day to day problems
we face but we will never get on top of these or get
budgets under control in the long-term if we don’t
improve our health as individuals and as a nation.
Being healthy starts with personal responsibility, but
the Government also has a role to play. That’s where
Healthy Ireland comes in: the cross-Government,
cross-sector programme to improve our health.
We are already taking actions in a number of areas
such as smoking, alcohol, sexual health and sunbed
use. Now this National Physical Activity Plan sets an
ambitious target to get half a million people more
active within ten years. I’m very confident we can
reach this goal.
“This Plan is also a great example of joined-up
Government involving the Departments of Health,
Transport, Tourism & Sport, and Education & Skills.
Too often, Government Departments and agencies
work in silos but on this issue we are committing
today to working together.”
Sitting CalculatoR
How many hours each day
do you sit? At
work? In the
car? At meals?
In front of the
TV? You might be
surprised to learn
that Irish people
spend on average
5.3 hours sitting each
weekday. Do you know
how long you spending
each day? Try out our interactive sitting
time calculator to see how much time you spend
sitting. You would be surprised how quickly it all
adds up. The calculator adds up the number of
hours you spent sitting and evaluates your risk
of ‘sitting disease’. Our results also suggest tips
on how to fight ‘sitting disease’ by building more
activity into your day.
Places to Get Active
Database
When the last time you tried something new?
Knowing where to go is now even easier with our
new database of Places to Get Active. Browse
by county to start getting active in a place
near you. With information on local amenities,
outdoor activities and indoor venues, you’ll find
everything you need to know before you go!
Community Wall
This feature was developed to integrate all our
social media channels directly onto our website’s
homepage. Our Community Wall displays our
Twitter feed, Facebook and Instagram posts in
one spot for our visitors to read and keep up
to date. This section also features three latest
news-spots with links to more in-depth analysis of
topics related to physical activity.
Testimonials
The power of these positive accounts of Irish
people getting active, will hopefully provide
inspiration and support to visitors before they
embark on their getting active journey.
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar (centre) with (from left to right) Minister of State for Tourism and Sport
Michael Ring, Paralympic cyclist Cathal Miller, cyclist Ciara Doogan, and Minster for Transport, Tourism and
Sport Paschal Donohoe, at Ballybough Community, Youth and Fitness Centre, Dublin.
Animated videos
We’ve designed and developed four bespoke
animated videos targeting specific age groups
and topics with information on:
• physical activity for babies, toddlers and
preschoolers,
• how inactivity is a silent killer;
• 8 tips from our physical activity experts to
getting active; and
• Tips on getting active for those aged over
65s.
spring 2016 | health matters | 65