HEALTH SECRETARY EXCLUSIVE

FRIDAY 18th APRIL 2019 


In an exclusive interview for the Daily Express Health Secretary, Matt Hancock,  urges unhealthy Brits to get off the sofa and start exercising as the shocking scale of inactivity is laid bare. " We are 20 per cent less active than the 1960s and if the crisis continues we will be 35 per cent less active by 2030. Idleness now costs the UK £7.4billion a year. If we do nothing the physical and mental impact on individuals and the financial cost to the NHS will become ever greater. We have a shared responsibility for our health. " .


NOF COMMENT:   The Forum would have more time for Mr Hancock's pronouncements if he ensured that local councils, the main providers of recreational spaces in any given area, had Treasury funds to make them attractive to exercise in.  Activity should be fun and enjoyable but a walk in the park is no fun if the park is rundown and uninviting.  Words alone will not motivate adults who cannot find 20 minutes a day in which to exercise: helping to create pleasant environments in which they could spend that time just might!  Only then should Mr Hancock talk about ' shared responsibility ' ".