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Taking exercise
saves money
The economic
benefits of physical activity will be just one of the issues
under discussion during the two day Northern Ireland Physical
Activity Conference in Newcastle.
The conference,
'Physical Activity and Public Health', is being hosted by
the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland and features
a line-up of experts in physical activity from Canada, Hungary,
England, Scotland and Wales.
They will be
looking at the cost of inactivity and making recommendations
for breaking down the barriers to getting people to be more
active more often. A keynote speaker at the conference is
Roy Shephard, Professor of Applied Physiology with the University
of Toronto, who has written 1,300 academic papers and more
than 300 publications on the subject of physical activity.
He will
focus on the hidden costs of an inactive lifestyle to the
Government, the employer and the individual. Professor Shephard
explains: "Lack of physical activity puts a tremendous cost
on employers. Research has shown that companies could save
approximately £300 per employee, per year, if each employee
carried out some form of regular physical activity.
"Keeping active
is also necessary for maintaining independence in later life.
Lack of physical activity can lead to loss of independence.
This can eventually result in a much greater cost to the health
service, for example, when the individual’s mobility has decreased
so they are dependent on others. Research has shown that a
physically active person is more likely to live independently
compared to someone who has been sedentary for most of their
life."
Dr Dawn Skelton,
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, will
focus on the need to keep active in later life. As she points
out: "Physical activity is important to our health at all
ages especially as we reach middle age. Remaining active is
essential for maintaining strength, flexibility, fitness and
independence in later years.
"There is a major
discrepancy between how fit older people think they are compared
with how active, or inactive, they really are. Research shows
that two out of five 50 year olds are completely sedentary;
however, when asked one in two perceived themselves to be
fit. This is a very worrying statistic."
Frank Kelly,
Physical Activity Programme Manager, with the Health Promotion
Agency for Northern Ireland said: "This conference is providing
the opportunity for a wide range of delegates from various
backgrounds, including primary care, education, local government
and the voluntary sector, to look at physical activity in
Northern Ireland.
"We hope that
health professionals who are charged with implementing the
public health agenda will be in a better position following
this conference to develop an integrated approach to promote
increased physical activity for people of all ages in Northern
Ireland.
This second biannual
conference is part of the implementation process of the Northern
Ireland physical activity strategy.
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