Dear All,
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence has just published
public health guidance on creating environments to encourage physical
activity.
Details can be found at:
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp?action=byID&o=11917
The guidance is on promoting and creating built and natural
environments that encourage and support physical activity. The
guidance represents the first ever national, evidence-based
recommendations on how to improve the physical environment to
encourage physical activity to improve health.
The recommendations are for the NHS, local authorities, planners,
transport authorities, building managers, designers and architects.
The guidance highlights that environmental factors need to be tackled
in order to make it easier for people to be active in their daily
lives.
The recommendations include:
• Ensure planning applications for new developments always prioritise
the need for people (including those whose mobility is impaired) to be
physically active as routine part of their daily life.
• Ensure pedestrians, cyclists and users of other modes of transport
that involve physical activity are given the highest priority when
developing or maintaining streets and roads (this includes people
whose mobility is impaired).
• Ensure new workplaces are linked to walking and cycling networks.
• During building design or refurbishment, ensure staircases are
attractive to use and clearly signposted to encourage people to use
them.
Increasing physical activity levels has numerous benefits. It can help
to prevent or manage over 20 conditions and diseases, including
coronary heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and obesity. Currently
around 2 in 3 men and three-quarters of women in England do not
achieve the recommended level of activity for health. Physical
activity can help to improve mental health, and it can also help older
people to maintain independent lives.
Regards,
Sal
IOM CHIA
www.iom-world.org
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