Last year I went to the BASEM conference in London, and one of the key topics was this very thing- inactivity and disease rates. The very interesting Karim Khan spoke about the population and their inactivity. He was speaking about the use of Social Medial sites and the Internet to get people to take more exercise. Mr Khan thinks that some parts of the population take little or no exercise stating that- ” I think people can limit their sitting and lying to 23.5 hours per day! and take at least 30minutes of exercise a day.”

He went on to say-

“Both government and the general public are recognising that the solution to chronic diseases will not come in a pill jar. Personalised medicine will help a tiny minority of people. Physical activity as a public heath movement will help keep politicians in office by avoiding the riots that will arise when the ‘sick care system’ comes to a grinding halt.”

As Therapists we should be advocating the use of exercise everyday to our patents and warning them that a lack of physical activity can be as bad as smoking. The results from the study by the WHO are very clear!

The report details  in the results that 75% of the population of the UK are not taking enough exercise, and that the minimum recommended exercise is 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise- i.e. brisk walking, cycling or gardening. No one is asking anyone to take up sport, run a marathon or join the gym… just to get up off the sofa!

The report published in the Lancet this week to coincide with the start of the olympics suggests that  tackling it requires a new way of thinking, suggesting the public needs to be warned about the dangers of inactivity rather than just reminded of the benefits of being active.

So we as a group of Health Care Professionals should maybe change tactics too and start warning our patients before this becomes the pandemic the WHO believe it is. We are in a perfect position to give this sort of advice, and as part of our role should be holistic care its time to “dish” the advice… and advocate activity!