Phase IV 2003-2008 Active Living 2003-2007
| Active Living 2003-2007 |
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The following outlines our work during 2003-2007. During this time we had received funding from the Big Lottery to appoint an Active Living Coordinator who worked in partnership with Belfast City Council in developing annual Active Living Weeks. Funding for this work ceased in 2007. Our Active Living programme aims to promote physical activity as something people of all ages and abilities can participate in.
A major aspect of the Active Living concept is tackling obesity, but one of its core messages is that being physically active also improves mental wellbeing. Physical activity can also provide opportunities for social contacts, which in turn support mental wellbeing and can help break isolation. Recent studies show that taking up physical activity can notably improve life expectancy, and that even becoming active in older age has clear health benefits, including reducing the risk of dementia.
The environment can be a strong determinant for physical activity and effective action. Therefore, our programme over the next four years will include working with urban planners and architects to create environments that make people active as part of their everyday life. A detailed workplan will be developed during 2007.
The following outlines our work during 2003-2007. During this time we had received funding from the Big Lottery to appoint an Active Living Coordinator who worked in partnership with Belfast City Council in developing annual Active Living Weeks. Funding for this work ceased in 2007. Belfast Healthy Cities chair the Belfast Active Living Group, which is an intersectoral group co-ordinating work to promote physical activity in the city. We were also instrumental in introducing the concept to Northern Ireland in the late 1990s and setting up the Active Living Group. The work builds on the Active Living concept as promoted by the WHO European Healthy Cities Network. Active Living Weeks Currently the main role of the Active Living Group is to oversee the Active Living Weeks. This is a series of four annual weeks highlighting different types of physical activity and offering taster sessions, with the aim of giving people the opportunity to try new activities. The programme has been running since 2000 and increased in popularity year on year.The Active Living programme 2007 is to date organised as follows:
Week of Swimming: 17-25 March
Week of Walking: 21-28 April
Week of Cycling: 15-24 June The weeks are co-ordinated through Belfast City Council, in partnership with event organisers working throughout the city. The Active Living Group is responsible for strategic development of the weeks.
WHO work on active livingWHO’s broad definition of physical activity goes beyond the traditional responsibility for action by sports and leisure sectors and involves sectors that have a remit for education, sport, the built environment, architecture and urban planning, transport, work and employment.
In 2006, WHO published two documents on physical activity. One, Physical activity and health in Europe: Evidence for action, provides an overview of levels of physical activity in Europe. The other, Promoting physical activity and active living in urban environments: The role of local governments, is intended as a resource for local governments to begin to develop environments that support active lifestyles. It provides a wide overview of factors that influence people's decisions on whether to be active and sets out an agenda that emphasis
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