MOVE …… FOR HEALTH
10 May
The Move for Health Day forms part of the development of global and national strategies on diet, physical activity
and health. The main objectives are to:
• Facilitate the development of sustained national and local physical activity initiatives, policies and programmes
• Increase population-wide participation in physical activity
• Increase participation in physical activity through sport organisations, events and other socio-cultural forums
• Promote healthy behaviour and lifestyles such as following a healthy diet, no tobacco use, reduction of violence,
stress and social isolation
WHO defines physical activity as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles
that requires energy expenditure – including activities undertaken while working,
playing, carrying out household chores, travelling, and engaging in recreational pursuits.
Exercise is considered a subsection of physical activity and is planned, structured,
repetitive, and aims to improve or maintain one or more components of physical fitness.
Energy expended by muscles + movement = PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
When physical activity is planned + structured + repetitive + goal driven = EXERCISE
How can we increase our physical activity?
• Park as far away from the entrance as possible, and
walk briskly to work, the shops, the train etc.
• Get up every 20 minutes, walk around the desk, to the
window, door, stairs etc.
• Balance on one leg while brushing your upper teeth,
keeping the core tight, change to the other leg when you
brush the lower teeth.
• Fetch your own coffee/tea rather than wait to be served.
• Get off at an earlier stop when using public transport and
walk to the destination.
• Limit the use of machines and kitchen aids when doing
household chores, for example clean the house by
sweeping with a broom rather than a vacuum cleaner,
wash floors with a mop, wash and dry dishes by hand,
mix with a spoon or a whisk not a mixer, dice and slice
with a knife, wash and dry the dishes.
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• Walk briskly whenever you walk.
• Contract and relax your leg muscles while standing in a
queue.
• Go out to eat lunch or a snack.
• Stand on your toes while waiting for the kettle to boil,
keep the shoulders back, tummy in, and tighten your
butt.
• Walk around your car before you get in and when you
get out to do all your tyre and safety checks.
• Use stairs rather than the elevator or escalator.
• Get up to change the TV channel by putting the remote
on the TV not next to the chair.
• Have a walking meeting,
• When gardening pull weeds by hand and mow the lawn.
• Set yourself a challenge to get up every time a
commercial comes on and sit back down.
Do as many as you can during the
break, then try to increase the
number of ‘getups’ during
one of the commercials.
• Track your activities
through social media.
www.who.org
• Try to find opportunities to move - do not send an email,
walk to your colleague to discuss a matter.