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Call for physical activity to be cornerstone of 21st century health

  • Last modified date:
    13 August 2009
woman on bike

The UK must move from 'relegation candidates to play-off contenders' in the international physical activity league tables to improve health and cut costs – that’s the message from Health Secretary Andy Burnham today as he set out his vision for a fitter England.

In his speech, the Health Secretary called on the NHS to make the promotion of active lifestyles “core business and not a peripheral concern”. Health professionals should see improving activity rates and getting their patients moving as central to their work.

This builds on the Olympic legacy and aims to move Britain up the European league table in terms of physical activity. Britain is in 21st place in Europe when levels of physical activity are compared.

Andy Burnham said:

'We need an ambition for physical activity commensurate with the ambition we’ve already showed in hosting this decade of sport.

'Just as five years ago, we set ourselves the target of coming fourth in the 2012 Olympic medal tables, now I want us to aspire to fourth place in the physical activity league tables over the next ten years.

'This would be an unprecedented achievement, but I believe it is achievable and vital for dealing with the big challenges of our day.'

The Health Secretary’s vision is backed by four pillars of change:

  • a new accord across Government – that matches the scale of our ambition and enables politicians and policy makers to lead from the front; the Department of Health will adopt physical activity which up until now has been an ‘orphan’ policy
  • a new awakening across the NHS – from the board to the ward – that active lifestyles are now an intrinsic part of 21st century health;
  • a quantum shift in social attitudes, so that physical activity starts to resonate as a clinical need, not just a lifestyle choice;
  • a sea change in the way physical activity is provided locally – to make active lifestyles universal.

Andy Burnham said:

'We are a sport-loving nation but we are simply nowhere near as active as we should be.

'Promoting active lifestyles is the simple answer to many of the big challenges facing our country today. It can save us money and ease the burden on public services. The NHS has the green light to be bold and creative to help people to be fitter and more healthy.'

With more than two and half million people on incapacity benefit in Britain, if just one per cent of those people adopted healthier lifestyles, significant savings could be made to the economy. Combined, they cost the Exchequer £13 billion and industry £11 billion a year. More than a third of these people are on benefits because of mental health problems or muscular or skeletal disorders – both of which are known to respond well to tailored physical activity programmes.

And the NHS spends £3,000 every minute on combating illness which could be prevented by physical activity. A modest increase in physical activity amongst older people could cut hip fractures by one per cent, saving us more than £200 million a year. A 20 per cent increase in cycling would save the NHS more than £50 million in treatments.

Andy Burnham said:

'In England, if we can get just one per cent of people on incapacity benefit back into the workplace through active lifestyles, this would save the Exchequer £36 million and industry £31 million – that’s a combined cost to the economy of £67 million a year.'

In his speech, the Health Secretary also gave an update on up and coming plans for Change4Life – the lifestyle revolution that is helping families to eat well, move more and live longer. They include:

In line with Bike4Life, Sky, the entertainment and communications company, working with British Cycling, has organised a summer series of Skyride mass-participation cycling events across five major cities, plus hundreds of local led rides, to encourage all ages and abilities to get back on their bikes. Sky’s target is to inspire a million more people to ride in the next five years.

  • A Dance Champions Group featuring stars of Strictly Come Dancing including Arlene Phillips, Lisa Snowdon and Darren Bennett, and Come Dancing star Angela Rippon, will be running a national campaign to boost participation in dance in the run up to 2012. The group will be chaired by Rod Aldridge.
  • The new Swim4Life brand. Around 250 councils are already signed up to the Free Swimming programme. More than 20 million young people and senior citizens are eligible to swim for free, and 4.4 million free swims have been made since the scheme began in April. The Department is now reopening the bidding rounds, with another £1 million pounds on offer for councils who didn’t sign up in the first place. In the coming weeks it will also be looking to see how it can support existing free swimming councils to innovate and extend the free swimming offer.
  • Fresh efforts to build on Natural England’s Walking for Health campaign to make 200,000 more people active by 2012 through Walking for Health under the Walk4Life brand.  The Walk4Life programme already provides a service for 30,000 people every week.

A health champion for the NHS, Mike Farrar will embed physical activity across the health service. A new cross Government Ministerial summit will also take place, chaired by Andy Burnham.

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