But it also found that 1 in 4 people walk 364 miles each year (that is London to Edinburgh) in their everyday life.
Amusingly calling this “incidental” activity - the survey went on to say that a years worth of running for the bus, walking the dog or doing the weekly shopping burns over 100,000 calories every year. 1 in 4 people walk for a month each year (equal to 18 days in an aerobic class) and housework burns 144 cals an hour and good news for gardeners (like me) who burn 350 cals an hour. While it was found Northerners most likely to walk up to 2miles a day – we Londoners walk more than any other UK region a year. Women burn up more cals than men with a quarter of women walking 7 miles a week (only1/5th men did). No surprise there then?
The survey concluded that you don’t have to go to a gym to be fit and worryingly found going to the Gym does little to improve the health of the nation and – in a minority of cases can cause harm and damage. In past generations we didn’t have extensive gym facilities and were leaner and fitter than people today. It also found people we put off by Gym based exercise which is often “hard work”. Personally I am of the opinion that activities should leave us feeling exhilarated - not exhausted.
It is recommended that we do 30 mins brisk walking at least 5 days a week but 25% of women and 37% men only in UK reach this target. The survey also went on to point out that children need exercise and that just 1 hour of exercise a day could transform the health of children – not just for now – but well into their adult lives. According to the British Heart Foundation 2000 “1 in 3
children between the ages of 2 and 7 do not achieve minimum recommended levels of exercise and by the age of 15 - 2/3rds of girls do so little exercise that they are classed inactive” How sad is that!
The British Heart Foundation and the Health Education Authority recommend children aged 5 – 18 should participate in an activity for 1 hour of moderate intensity a day. Recommended activities for the heart (aerobic activities) included
• Brisk walking
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Dancing
Also recommended were the following activities which should be done at least twice a week to enhance muscular strength, flexibility and strong bones (weight bearing exercises)
• Climbing
• Skipping
• Jumping
• Gymnastics
It’s a worrying fact that inactive children are more likely to become inactive adults. “Couch Potato” children are at health risk so is the growing problem of youngsters who spend hours in front of TV or Computers and are very likely to eat junk food. This can lead to obesity which can lead to diabetes, heart disease and premature death. Exercise fights obesity.
A Government Survey (Sept 2005) found:
• Half of all 6 year olds are not getting the recommended 2 hours of physical education each week (despite a multi-million Gov scheme to improve their fitness which involves mobilising hundreds of sports co-ordinators at some cost to work with some schools so that they are equipped to offer the suggested 2 hours!)
• Government target was to have 75% of children receiving 2 hours of weekly PE by 2008 and all by 2010.
• Only 64% of primary pupils compared with 75% secondary were doing the suggested 2 hours of PE.
During my school years during the 1950-60’s schools offered at least 2 hours of sport - and competition was encouraged. Since then there has been a dramatic shift away from traditional completive games to aerobics and “multi skill” activities. It’s interesting to note that there are now less playing fields and it’s sad that it is felt to be unsafe for many children to play outside unsupervised. To me it’s seems inconceivable that as London hosts the 2010 Olympics – nearly 1 in 10 of the schools surveyed did not offer athletics!
Copyright and thanks to Diana Moran http://primetimelife.tv
