There is increasing evidence of the role of supportive environments in people making the healthy choice of physical activity. This was the key message from environmental health experts who recently gathered in Cardiff, Wales in the United Kingdom for the 8th annual meeting and symposium of HEPA Europe, the European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity.
Physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for health and is associated to one million deaths per year in the WHO European Region. Physical activity, on the other hand, is not entirely a personal choice. Choosing physical activity is closely dependent on supportive environments that enable people to adopt this healthy lifestyle.
More than 180 participants from public institutions, academia and the civil society, who attended the meeting on 26-27 September, reviewed the current knowledge and practices around the link between green spaces and health. They looked at it as an emerging and promising relationship on which research is rapidly developing and evidence is increasingly available to policy-makers to provide green environments to people. The elderly and the young especially need supportive environments to make the healthy choice of being physically active.
The meeting also brought together a number of events organized by HEPA Europe members. WHO/Europe contributed with sessions on physical activity and inequalities, and on the application of the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for cycling and for walking in five European cities. The sessions highlighted that:
- People’s socioeconomic status influences how active or inactive they are. As a consequence, the rates of chronic diseases and obesity are higher among people with lower income. Neighbourhoods that encourage physical activity can help poor people choose physical activity and the health sector can lead collaboration with other sectors by creating safe green spaces and promoting low-cost activities.
- Five European cities – Brighton & Hove in the United Kingdom; Kuopio in Finland; Modena in Italy; Parnu in Estonia; and Vinana do Castelo in Portugal – piloted the application of HEAT, a brand new online tool to calculate the economic gain from reduced mortality due to physical activity. They concluded that decline in mortality is a strong argument for governors and the results in at least 3 cities had an impact on policy-making.
HEPA Europe was launched in 2005 as a European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity. The main objective of HEPA Europe is to improve coordination in physical activity promotion across sectors and administrative structures. HEPA Europe closely collaborates with WHO/Europe and other institutions and organizations. Its 8th annual meeting and symposium was hosted by the Physical Activity & Nutrition Networks for Wales and was jointly sponsored by WHO/Europe and the European Commission.