Whilst excitement is building across the country for next year’s Games, consideration is being given to the lasting impact.
Following a meet of more than 350 delegates listening to MPs and fitness industry professionals, Sarah Juggins gives her thoughts on the impact that the Olympic and Paralympic Games may have upon participation levels and health in the UK…
Sports broadcaster John Inverdale chaired the conference and he offered this advice: ‘Sport and activity is going to be in the spotlight like never before, or will ever be again. And the sports industry would be worse than foolish to miss out on this opportunity.’
And the question Inverdale left those present pondering was a crucial one for assessing the impact the sport and fitness industry is having on health in the UK. ‘Is it good news that 15 million people are exercising on a regular basis or is it bad news that 44 million people do not even do one hour of activity a week?’
And those figures get worse when you consider the number of females who get the recommended level of physical activity per week – according to BBC Health less than 25 per cent of women are doing enough exercise to be beneficial per week.
Under Secretary of State for Health, Anne Milton (pictured top), compared the challenge to get people active with the Stop Smoking campaign. ‘Even though people know smoking is bad for them, even now some people still do it. The same is true with exercise – people know it is good for them but they still find every reason to avoid it.’
Tessa Jowell (pictured below) was Secretary of State for Sport when London won hosting rights for the Olympics. She admitted that she had grave doubts that the UK would meet its legacy pledge of one million more people becoming active as a result of Olympic inspiration.
A major issue that many non-participants, particularly women, face is the concept of ‘sport’. For many people wanting to get into physical activity for the first time sport conjours up very intimidating images. For this reason, many team sports are finding that their participation levels are falling.
The challenge for all those present, said Inverdale in his summary, was to find innovative ways to present sport and activity, to provide cheap options for exercise and to go out to the community rather than wait for the community to come to the gym or leisure centre.
Despite the good intentions of the industry, one fact remains – no Games has ever produced a health legacy or led to a rise in participation levels.
Sarah Juggins, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
