A new program is launching this week to address the health issues caused by inactivity and isolation, especially in vulnerable communities, as COVID-19 cases rise and lockdowns occur across the country.
Experts across health, fitness, recreation, sport, academics, and others are coming together with a common cause—to find ways for more people to get active for their health, especially those most affected by the pandemic with a program called “Change for Good Health.”
Mike Wahl, the host of the VOCM Health and Wellness Show, says just one in five Canadians get their 150 minutes of physical activity each week – which can lead to many other issues like obesity, weakened immune systems, high rates of heart disease, substance abuse, and increased stress.
Change for Good Health will do three roundtables to explore three main topics: fitness as a right; impacts of physical inactivity on mental, emotional and social health; and health and wellness in children and families.
Wahl says the goal is to compile this information and share knowledge in a new way, ultimately with leadership in the country in hopes of changing some public health policy when it comes to physical activity.
He says maybe it will help look towards promoting preventative healthcare a little more as there is a need for increased physical activity given the challenges in the foreseeable future with the pandemic.
Wahl provided some tips on how to stay active. He says get outside and enjoy nature; even though gyms are closed, you can still get physical activity with a 10-minute walk here, a 10-minute walk there. He says you can do some calisthenics with your kids in your living room, all of that adds up.