Keep fit for couch potatoes

SPORTS stars have been queuing up to back a new initiative designed to get more North-Easterners walking the dog, riding a bike or kicking a ball around the local park. Research in Europe, America and Australia suggests that high-profile campaigns to get people moving really do work.

That is why Sport England is investing a cool half-million pounds in a four month exercise blitz to encourage everyday people to do more everyday exercise.

The North-East has been chosen as a test bed for the new Everyday Sport initiative because of our appalling record on health and exercise.

Apart from our well-publicised health problems - high levels of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and mental health problems - we also have the distinction of taking the least regular exercise, measured as taking 30 minutes of exercise, five times a week, in England. While an average of 32 per cent of adults attain this level of exercise across England, we lag behind on 28 per cent. The idea is simple. If more people take moderate exercise more often, the health of the region will improve.

Sport England is keen to get across to people that taking healthy exercise is not a matter of donning latex and pumping iron at the gym. In fact, the emphasis of Everyday Sport is on encouraging people to do everyday things like gardening, washing the car, taking the dog for a walk, having a kickabout in the park or walking around the block during their lunch hour.

To highlight this down-to-earth approach, Everyday Sport is organising what is hoped to be the world's largest mass dog walk at Gypsies Green Stadium, The Leas, South Shields this Sunday. In the pipeline is what will be the world's largest football kickabout, somewhere in South Durham or Teesside.

If Everyday Sport does result in increased numbers of people taking exercise, it is likely to be rolled out to the rest of England, as part of a £30m a year programme to encourage people to take more exercise.

But according to Roger Draper, chief executive of Sport England, until we dramatically increase our national investment in sports and leisure facilities, we may struggle to match the achievements of other countries.

"Before mounting this campaign, we had a look at what the rest of the world was doing in terms of encouraging sports participation and physical activity rates," he says. "Finland, Canada and New Zealand have all seen year-on-year percentage increases in activity levels in the last decade since campaigns were launched. We also looked at campaigns such as America On The Move, Sport is Good For Germany and Active Australia. In all of those countries, there were improvements in activity rates."

But the Sport England boss is under no illusions that he is operating on an unequal playing field. "This level of achievement in other countries is linked to significant investment in local sports facilities and making sure such facilities are in place," he says. "Compared with the level of investment in sports and leisure facilities in many other countries, we are lagging way behind. These nations recognise that sport and activity play a major role in the wider health of the nation."

Sport England estimates that it would take £600m to refurbish run-down leisure centres nationwide, and is currently compiling a detailed so-called 'Domesday Book' of facilities to present to the Government in a bid to win more money to repair and replace ageing centres.

Despite urgings from the Government to take more exercise, British people give a far higher priority to hospitals and schools than sporting facilities, even though researchers suspect that investment in the latter would provide a health dividend in the medium to long term.

Cash-strapped councils say they can't afford to extend or refurbish existing centres, while central Government points to the year-on-year increase in cash allocations to local councils.

Funding concerns aside, a big chunk of the £500,000 being spent on the pilot Everyday Sport scheme is going on a high-profile advertising campaign. Leading firm Team Saatchi have developed adverts which will feature the campaign's logo and slogan on posters, billboards, leaflets and mobile hoardings resting on specially-adapted tricycles.

Television viewers will also be exposed to regular doses of a 30-second advert featuring the voice of Robson Green. North-East celebrities such as Jayne Middlemiss, Donna Air, Jon Amaechi and Geordie Dancer (AKA supermarket worker David Johnson from Witton Gilbert, near Durham, who regularly entertains fans at Newcastle United's ground with his zany pre-match dancing) have all pledged their support.

A glimpse at the attractive, well-organised website, suggests that Sport England has done its homework, with every local authority in the region signed up, along with more than a hundred businesses. Anyone keen to find out what facilities are available in their local area can ring a helpline or look up the relevant council number on the website.

A list of major events which people can get involved in, such as the Great North Walk and the Darlington 10k Road Race, is also available on the website, along with contacts. But after all the hullaballoo, how will we know if it's a success?

Judith Rasmussen, North-East regional director of Sport England, explains that researchers will monitor activity levels at the start, midway through and at the end. Apart from stopping people on the street and quizzing them on exercise, special teams will be deployed to observe whether, for instance, more people are using the stairs at a shopping mall than they were before the campaign got under way.

"More than anything else, it is all about raising awareness about activity. Many people simply don't realise how inactive they are. We want to challenge people to look at themselves and ask whether they need to be more active," says Ms Rasmussen.

For more information about Everyday Sport ring the helpline on 0800 587 6000 or log on to www.everydaysport.com

To take part in The Great North Dog Walk, turn up on the day (with your dog) between 9am and 5pm this Sunday.

Health challenge facing the region

The North-East has...

* The worst health in the country, with death rates ten per cent above the English national average.

* The highest chronic illness rates in the country, 27 per cent above the national average and 47 per cent above England's lowest.

* The highest rate of poor health in England, 33 per cent above the national average and 68 per cent above the country's lowest rate.

* High circulatory disease rates, 13 per cent above the national average.

* Some of the lowest levels of participation in sport and physical activity in the country.

The growing threat of obesity

Nationally, around two-thirds of the population of England are overweight or obese. Obesity has grown by almost 400 per cent in the last 25 years, and is set to overtake smoking as the greatest cause of premature loss of life.

Obesity-related illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, type two diabetes and kidney failure cost the country more than £8bn a year - the equivalent cost of 410 new schools being built in the North-East.

Around 18m obesity-related sick days are taken every year across England.

There are 34,100 obesity-related deaths in England every year - the equivalent of a full house at Middlesbrough's Riverside soccer stadium or the population of Bishop Auckland.

A guide to getting fit without fuss

* One hour of aerobics burns 390 calories.

* Getting off the bus a stop early twice a day can count for half your recom mended daily exercise.

* Taking the stairs instead of the lift burns nine calories a minute.

* A one-mile walk is as good for you as a one-mile run.

* Half an hour of vigorous gardening is equivalent activity to 45 minutes playing volley-ball.

* Regular cycling can give you a fitness level of a person ten years younger.

* An hour's kicking a football about in the park is as beneficial as an hour of aerobics.

DID YOU KNOW?

The average daily calorie requirement for a woman aged from 19 to 50 is 1,940 and 2,550 for a man.

What is "moderate exercise" as defined by Everyday Sport?

30 minutes of dancing

30 to 45 minutes of gardening

45 minutes to an hour washing the car

45 minutes to an hour washing the windows or the floor

20 to 45 minutes of swimming, football, volleyball etc

Walking one and three quarter miles

Cycling five miles