News release
For Immediate release
Golden opportunity for a healthy Scotland
President of Ramblers Association Scotland, Dennis Canavan, today called for a massive programme to make the people of Scotland the fittest in the world. Welcoming the decision to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Dennis Canavan said:
“I congratulate all those in Glasgow and across Scotland whose tremendous efforts have delivered the Games to Glasgow. We must seize this once in a lifetime opportunity to inspire everyone in Scotland to commit to healthy exercise and the enjoyment of the outdoors.”
Dennis Canavan emphasised that these Games are not just about elite athletic performance over a few weeks in 2014:
“This is a golden opportunity, not just for our finest athletes, but for everyone to get into the starting blocks for a lifetime commitment to healthy exercise. I want to see everyone walking thirty minutes a day by 2014 or enjoying any other opportunity that Scotland offers for healthy exercise.”
The need to commit to a seven-year programme was a top priority, said Dennis:
“From Shetland to Stranraer, we need to commit to seven years of supreme effort to put fitness and health back into our lives. Our right to roam legislation has demonstrated that Scotland leads the world in providing the best rights of public access to our land and water. Let us build on this, raising the bar, year by year, so that by 2014, we have become the fittest nation on the planet.
Get walking today!
More information:
- Dennis Canavan was first elected to the House of Commons in 1974 and was a member of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 until he stood down in May this year. He has a long-standing interest in sport and the outdoors – enjoying running, hill walking and horse riding. Dennis was Convener of the Cross Party Sports Group in the Scottish Parliament and Chair of the Scottish Sports Group in the Westminster Parliament.
- Ramblers Scotland has worked with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Bid Team to promote walking and healthy exercise for everyone as an integral part of the 2014 Bid – see leaflet
- Scotland has considerable health issues associated with inactivity, poor diet, obesity and mental ill health. The Commonwealth Games is important in its own right but is also part of a wider picture. Walking can be the first step to encompassing a healthy lifestyle and can encourage people to move on to other forms of sport.
- Many Scots die before they have to, when they could be enjoying a good life. As a nation, Scotland is inactive, unfit and increasingly overweight. The health of two-thirds of the Scottish adult population is at risk from physical inactivity, making it the most common risk factor for coronary heart disease. This trend starts before young people have left school.
- Inactivity accounts for over a third of deaths from heart disease and threatens the progress made in this area over many years. Added to this are the disease, disability and poor mental health that come from growing levels of obesity and a lack of physical strength. Physical inactivity has been called the 'silent killer of our time'.
- Eight of the 10 areas with the lowest male life expectancy are in Scotland. Glasgow is the only area in Britain where the figure is below 70. The city also has the lowest life expectancy for women. The figure of 76.4 is more than eight years lower than in Kensington and Chelsea. See BBC and Scotsman newspaper.
Health experts agree that 30 minutes brisk walking on most days of the week is sufficient to improve fitness. Walking is the most natural and simple form of exercise.
But as a nation we are walking less and less.
Walking can help you to:
- Improve your general health
- Get fit and stay fit
- Control your weight
- Live longer!
The Ramblers association publishes “Take30” - a practical guide to walking to improve health and well being.
