Increasing physical activity levels
The World Health Organization (WHO), as part of its Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018 - 2030 summarises the complex whole systems approach necessary to increase population physical activity levels. This has a focus across four broad domains that are explored below, including a selection of examples of interventions to increase physical activity.
1. Create active societies
- Implementation of social marketing campaigns to heighten awareness, knowledge and understanding of the multiple health benefits of regular physical activity and less sedentary behaviour
- Promote and enhance awareness and understanding of the social, economic and environmental co-benefits of physical activity, particularly more walking, cycling and other forms of mobility involving the use of wheels (including wheelchairs, scooters and skates)
- Provide mass-participation initiatives in public spaces (such as Parkrun) to provide free access to enjoyable and affordable, socially and culturally appropriate experiences of physical activity
- Increase the knowledge and skills of professionals and volunteers across sectors and settings (including, but not limited to, the sectors of transport, urban planning, education, tourism and recreation, sports and fitness, as well as in grassroots community groups and organisations) in order to understand their roles and contributions in creating inclusive, equitable opportunities for an active society.
2. Create active environments
- Integrate transport and urban planning policies to support active travel
- Improve walking and cycling networks
- Make roads safer for everyone - pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, scooter riders, skaters, and public transport passengers - by prioritising policies that protect the most vulnerable
- Improve access to public open spaces such as parks
- Implement proactive building policies that embed opportunities for physical activity, play, recreation and active travel into daily life.
3. Create active people
- Enhance physical education and school-based programmes
- Train health and social care providers to understand the benefits of physical activity, boost their confidence in recommending it, and help them guide people to local opportunities
- Provide programmes across multiple settings in the hearts of communities, and adopt an Asset-Based Community Development approach
- Improve provision for older adults
- Prioritise programmes for the least active
- Implement community-wide initiatives.
4. Create active systems
- Strengthen policy, leadership and governance
- Improve and integrate data systems to support regular population monitoring of physical activity levels and sedentary behaviour - across all ages and multiple domains
- Build research and development
- Broaden advocacy efforts to raise awareness, encourage collaboration, and engage key audiences-leaders, policymakers, media, businesses, and the community-in joint action.
- Find new ways to fund and sustain national and local programmes that encourage physical activity and reduce sedentary lifestyles. This includes creating systems that help design and implement supportive policies. This could include looking at more affordable and sustainable ways of supporting physical activity, or innovative incentive approaches such as salary sacrifice schemes to encourage cycling to work.
The action points above show the complexity involved in increasing physical activity levels and highlights the importance of a joined-up approach.
