Low fitness levels are top of the agenda for Sheffield health professionals after a decline in exercise following the Covid pandemic.
At an event hosted by Move More Sheffield last Thursday (23 March), medics shared the best ways to get through to patients get physical.
GP Jo Maher said fitness levels are far below where they should be and can have significant consequences on people’s health.
“The fact is that being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease, for cancer and for poor general health,” she said.
In Yorkshire, the percentage of adults who were physically inactive jumped from 25.6% to 29.2% during the first year of the pandemic.
Local GP Fran Norman said: “Everything closed down. People were told to stay in their houses, so of course people weren’t moving as much.
“Habit forming’s really important. Coming out of the habit of being physically active [means] it’s then really hard to get going again.”
The dip in fitness has also affected children, with just 45% getting the recommended amount of exercise across England (at least one hour a day) in 2020.
Levels have now returned to pre-pandemic levels, but these are still less than half of all children at just 47%.
Inactivity varies across different demographics. Mixed race people are the most active with 68% considered physically active, while Asian people are the least active at just 50.4%.
Dr Maher explained that poverty also plays a role in fitness levels.
She said: “Unfortunately we know there’s a very strong link between people who live in more deprived areas of the city don’t have the same opportunities to access physical activity as people in the more wealthy areas.”
“I’m afraid this plays out in the number of years people can expect to live a healthy life.”
Move More runs outreach projects for poorer areas, trying to give their residents more opportunities for exercise. These include Active Burngreave, which runs Romani dance classes, fitness clubs for young men and a Somali disabled women’s group.
