Why do I need to be active?

Everybody needs physical activity to keep healthy – people are designed to be active. Without it, our bodies don’t perform to their best capacity.

General wellbeing

Everybody needs physical activity to keep healthy – people are designed to be active.

If you aren’t very active at the moment, increasing your activity levels could have an immediate impact on your life.

You’ll feel good about yourself
You’ll have more energy
You’ll sleep better
You’ll cope with stress and anxiety better

Specific health benefits

As well as making you feel better in the short term, regular physical activity can help you reduce your risk of a wide range of health conditions both now and in the future.

Coronary heart disease or stroke

Not being active is one of the primary risk factors for developing coronary heart disease (along with smoking, hypertension and high cholesterol) – inactive people are nearly twice as likely to suffer as active people. It is estimated that a quarter of all strokes could be avoided if people were more active.

Becoming overweight or obese

This is a serious problem in Northern Ireland – over 60% of men and women here are overweight or obese, which can pose serious risks to their health. Regular physical activity is essential if you want to lose weight and keep it off in the long term – healthy eating alone is often not enough.

Diabetes

Be active Physical activity helps to prevent or delay the development of diabetes, and can help you to manage the condition if you have already developed it. Physical activity acts together with insulin to help lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. For those who have already developed insulin dependent diabetes, becoming more active appears to help protect them against heart disease.

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Regular physical activity may help to prevent blood pressure rising as we get older. It can also lower blood pressure in around three quarters of people who already have hypertension.

Osteoporosis

Regular weight-bearing physical activity (eg walking) is essential for the development of a healthy skeleton. Regular activity in childhood and early adulthood will help ensure higher bone mineral density throughout life, while regular activity in middle and older age slows the rate of age-related bone loss. Together with the beneficial effects of activity on muscle strength, balance and coordination, this means that older people who continue to be active are less likely to fall and break a hip or other bone.

Some types of cancer

Physical activity has been proven to help reduce your risk of developing colon cancer. Some studies have suggested that it can also reduce your risk of other types of cancer, including breast, prostate and lung cancer, but this is still being investigated.

70% of men and 74% of women in Northern Ireland don’t get enough physical activity to keep them healthy – are you one of them?

Depression and anxiety

Inactive people are more likely to experience depressive symptoms. Physical activity helps reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and raise self-esteem.

Most of us in Northern Ireland aren’t nearly active enough – you don’t need to run a marathon or be an athlete, but you do need to get enough activity into your life to protect your health.