Reducing inactive behaviour at work

The physical health of employees has been deteriorating over several generations as workforces in the City adopt inactive and sedentary behaviours. Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet reveals that obesity levels has nearly doubled for men and women over the last 20 years whilst the average British person will now sit for 8.9 hours each day (on average).

Inactivity has been identified as becoming more prevalent in today’s society and this has been linked to many diseases and conditions that people develop over their lifetime. Unfortunately, a decrease in activity and an increase in sedentary based behaviour occur in young children through to older adults; as a result many initiatives and campaigns have been initiated to target this inactive behaviour.

There are many benefits to reducing inactive behaviour, below are a few:

• Reduce body fat
• Increase energy
• Improve mental health
• Increase independence
• Reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke
• Improves immune system
• Feel strong and fit
• Improve quality of life
• Keep you and your family healthy and happy

Activity doesn’t have to mean hitting the gym, there are many ways that you can be active in daily life and with the family. Building activity into daily life is the most effective way to stay active, here are some ideas:

• Pick an active hobby i.e. dancing, bowling, sight seeing
• Make yourself walk to the shops
• Swap your car for a bicycle or make a family bike ride a regular activity
• Schedule time into your day in advance, use 10-20 minute workouts to slot into your day
• Find out what free activities you can take part in
• Join local free walking groups
• Get active in the garden

For more ideas of how to get active and reduce your inactive behaviour, visit:

http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/pages/get-going-every-day.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/be-more-active.aspx

www.healthyperformance.co.uk/put-your-best-foot-forward

Healthy Performance Ltd. specialises in employee health and wellbeing.  Our objective is to work in partnership with organisations to develop a healthy workplace culture.

We work with companies in London and the City including the Financial Ombudsman, Hymans Robertson, CFA Institute, Museum of London and News UK amongst many others.  Our specialist services include:

• Onsite Employee Health Screening
• Online Wellbeing Assessments
• Health Promotion
• Educational Workshops
• Stress and Resilience Training plus, many other related initiatives.

www.healthyperformance.co.uk