Every move counts: people more active for Health and inclusion
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The WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030 presented on 25 November 2020 aims to reduce physical inactivity by 15% by 2030. The document provides clear and scientifically valid information on the importance of moving, that is to do physical exercise in a constant and daily way. It also indicates precise lines of action, that is, specific interventions to be implemented in individual contexts, to counteract a sedentary lifestyle. (1)
Every move counts
According to the definition of the WHO, physical activity means any body movement produced by skeletal muscles, which involves an expenditure of energy.
This can be accomplished in different ways: walking, cycling, practicing sports or active forms of recreation (e.g. dance, yoga, tai chi), but also working, playing, doing housework, traveling and engaging in recreational activities. All forms of physical activity can provide health benefits, if practiced regularly and with sufficient duration and intensity.
How much and how do we “move” today?
The statistics of the WHO report that 1 in 4 adults and 4 out of 5 adolescents do not get enough physical activity. Globally, this high rate of sedentary lifestyle has a very high cost: 54 billion dollars spent each year on direct healthcare, plus another 14 billion in lost productivity.
High levels of physical inactivity have negative impacts on health systems, the environment, economic development, community well-being and quality of life. Furthermore, it has been estimated that if the world population were more physically active, up to 5 million deaths would be avoided each year. (2).
The new guidelines. Recommendations and benefits
WHO recommends that all adults (including those with chronic medical conditions or disabilities) at least 150-300 minutes of aerobic activity (moderate to intense) per week. For children and adolescents, on the other hand, he suggests an average of 60 minutes a day.
People aged 65 and over should also include activities that improve balance, motor coordination and muscle strengthening in their daily lives to reduce the risk of accidental falls.
A regular activity movement helps prevent and treat non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, breast and colon cancer, as well as prevent hypertension, overweight and obesity. Furthermore, objective and important benefits have been found in people with disabilities, who constantly carry out physical activity.
Last but not least, regular physical activity has also been scientifically proven to significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, while counteracting cognitive decline and improving memory and brain health. (3)
What objectives and what interventions?
The Action Plan WHO aims to achieve 4 strategic objectives through multidisciplinary interventions:
1. Building active companies (social norms and behaviors). Promote a paradigm shift throughout society towards a full awareness of the multiple benefits of physical activity, through communication campaigns on best practice and mass participation in public spaces, to share socially and culturally useful physical activity experiences.
2. Build active living environments (spaces and places). Creating and maintaining physical spaces and places, which allow all people of all ages, abilities and status socio-economic to be able to do physical activity regularly, each according to their abilities, through political actions to improve road safety and the planning of infrastructures, which allow movement on foot, by bicycle and in all possible forms of mobility on wheels (including wheelchairs, scooter and skates).
3. Promote active lifestyles (programs and opportunities). Design and propose programs in multiple contexts (school, work, community) to encourage individuals, families and groups most at risk of physical inactivity, to experiment with active lifestyles, through adequate programs and services that implement physical activity in schools, public and private workplaces and through initiatives Whole of community (for the whole community), which stimulate the sense of responsibility of the grassroots communities.
4. Orient governance systems to promote physical activity and health (political and government levers). Guarantee the investments necessary for the management and coordination of effective actions to promote physical activity, through lean and secure financing mechanisms, which ensure the implementation of national and sub-national actions for the development of policies in favor of physical activity. (4)
Plan global action of the WHO therefore provides a system approach universally applicable to all countries, which will then have to be adapted in detail to the individual situations in place and which, necessarily, will require a multidisciplinary involvement of several parties, in synergy between They.
Partnerships
Effective implementation of the WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030 will require partnerships between different actors: Member States, ministries of health, transport, education, sport, youth, urban planning, environment, tourism, finance and work. As well as development agencies, financial institutions, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations. And again, civil society, professional associations in medical and related areas, academic and research institutions, private sector, faith and cultural groups, leader local citizens and governments, Mayors, Governors and local officials.
Our Partner they will have to orient the objectives of their policy towards the implementation of physical activity and the reduction of sedentary behavior. This will involve developing individual action plans in line with WHO recommendations, as well as strategic links with all others. Partner, with a view to effective multidisciplinary collaborations.
The word to the experts
Fiona Bull, responsible for Physical Activity Unit, who led the development of the new WHO guidelines, stated that 'these new guidelines highlight how important it is to be active for our hearts, bodies and minds and how favorable outcomes benefit everyone, of all ages and abilities'.
The Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that being physically active is essential for health and well-being: 'it can help add years to life and life to years (...) Every move matters, especially now that we manage constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. We all have to move every day, safely and creatively. '
Physical activity and sustainable goals: yes you can!
The Bangkok Declaration of 2016 (5) highlighted the potential that physical activity can have for the achievement of most of the seventeen sustainable development goals, assigned by the United Nations to all countries for 2030, namely:
- End all forms of malnutrition. Overweight and obesity are forms of malnutrition. Physical activity can therefore help maintain a healthy weight and can contribute to weight loss.
- Good Health and Wellbeing. Increased physical activity contributes to the prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) in the population. Furthermore, preferring the use of bicycles or public transport reduces polluting emissions, improving the quality of the air you breathe.
- Quality education. Increased participation in physical activity in adolescents can lead to greater ability to concentrate and improved cognitive functions, resulting in better academic results.
- Gender equality. Increasing the possibilities of access to physical activity for women and girls can help to end gender discrimination, allowing them to develop multidisciplinary skills, towards personal economic self-sufficiency.
- Decent work and economic growth. By creating new jobs in the sports and recreation sector.
- Industry, innovation and infrastructure. Developing quality, modern and sustainable infrastructures, including new cycle and pedestrian paths, will lead to greater participation in physical activity according to the principle of equal opportunities, with the consequent possibility of new employment opportunities and economic development.
- Reduction of inequalities. Sport, in all its forms, has a great aggregative value and is a source and engine of social inclusion, as well as a valid tool for integrating minorities and groups at risk of social exclusion.
- Sustainable cities and communities. Better transport infrastructure favors walking and cycling and the use of public transport. The increase in walking, cycling and the use of public transport leads to a reduction in car use and therefore to a reduction in emissions, thus decreasing the negative impact they have on the environment.
- Responsible production and consumption. The increase in the number of people walking and cycling can contribute to sustainability and the preservation of nature through reduced car use and increased awareness of the impact of individuals on the environment.
- Climate action. Reducing the use of cars in favor of walking or cycling helps reduce the use of fossil fuels and the resulting emissions, thereby helping to mitigate climate change.
- Life on Earth. Physical activity in open spaces increases the appreciation of the land and natural environments and consequently promotes their sustainable use, conservation, restoration and biodiversity.
- Peace, justice and strong institutions. A greater sense of community through physical activity can help reduce violence and conflict and promote non-discriminatory laws and policies.
- Partnership. Working together and in synergy for a common good. Sharing knowledge, skills and resources to promote full awareness of the importance of physical activity for more sustainable development.
The real change however, it can only be achieved when these sustainable development goals are translated into 'practical actions', that is, only if important human and financial resources are seriously planned and invested to promote and support physical activity, understood as an absolute priority for physical and of the whole of humanity.
It is therefore time for each of us to 'move' in a healthy, conscious and sustainable way, towards a new awareness of 'every move counts'.
Dario Dongo
Note
(1) The WHO Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary lifestyle published in November 2020: "WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior"
(2) Physical activity (who.int)
(3) Global action plan on physical activity 2018–2030: more active people for a healthier world
(4) Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals - United Nations Sustainable Development
(5) The Bangkok Declaration on Physical Activity for Global Health and Sustainable Development is a consensus statement of the 6th Congress of the International Society of Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) of November 19, 2016 http://www.ispah.org/resources
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
