Keeping active is the key to staying healthy

People of all ages can benefit from being active – that’s the simple message from Buckinghamshire’s Director of Public Health Dr Jane O’Grady in her annual report presented to the County Council’s Cabinet on Monday (4 April).

This year’s report focuses on the role of physical activity in keeping us healthy and happy, and looks at the different ways people in each age group can stay more active, and the ways in which this benefits them. The report goes on to make recommendations on what the County Council, health services and other partners can do to help increase physical activity for all groups across Buckinghamshire.

Dr O’Grady says: “it’s not just our health and wellbeing that is improved by physical activity but also the educational attainment for our children and young people, the safety and quality of our environment and the connections we make in our communities.

“At the moment, we’re simply not active enough, with only 1 in 5 young people in Buckinghamshire reaching the level of activity needed to see benefits, and the proportion of active children actually falling. With adults, only 6 out of 10 are reaching the recommended guidelines, and 1 in 5 are completely inactive – with activity levels generally reducing with age. My report makes a series of recommendations as to how we can try and tackle this.”

The report recommends:

  • Urban planning of green spaces and new building design should promote and support physical activity.
  • Communities should be involved in developing opportunities for activity that suit their own local area.
  • Bucks County Council should work with schools and families to ensure that younger children learn physical literacy and young people continue to participate in activity during the teenage years.
  • Employers should encourage staff participation in opportunities for activity.
  • Opportunities for older adults to participate in activities should be developed by voluntary organisations and social services
  • Health services should ensure that physical activity is a key element of the design of services and the treatment of patients as part of the NHS ‘radical upgrade in prevention’.

Download the full report here: https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/documents/s77698/Director%20of%20Public%20Health%20Annual%20Report%202015.pdf