Figure 1: the Benefits of Physical Activity

Version 1 23 Oct 2014

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Contents

Introduction

Why be active?

Figure 1: The benefits of physical activity

How active do we need to be? Recommendations for different age groups

How active are we now?

The national picture

Figures 2 and 3: Current physical activity and inactivity levels in Swindon

Local data

Figure 4 – Percentage of staff using different modes of transport to get to work at eight town centre workplaces

Framework of strategies influencing physical activity within Swindon

Figure 5- Strategies which influence physical activity in Swindon

Current opportunities for physical activity in Swindon

Figure 6 – An overview of initiatives promoting physical activity in Swindon

How will we achieve this?

Further strategic aims

How will we measure our success?

Appendices

Appendix 1: Diversity impact assessment …………………………………………………………………………………..15

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Introduction

Physical activity is central to health and wellbeing. The benefits of being active are many and far reaching: from improving health to improving communities, from reducing the risk of many diseases to reducing inequalities in society. The importance of physical activity is widely recognised; this is reflected in the inclusion of activity and inactivity levels within the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Swindon has a higher prevalence of inactive people and a lower prevalence of active people compared to the average of local authorities with similar deprivation levels and also to England (Public health outcomes data 2013).

To improve health and wellbeing in Swindon, we need to get everybody active, everyday. We need active lives to be the norm, not the exception. There is some form of activity which will suit everyone- you just have to find what’s right for you.

The over-arching aimof the Active Swindon Strategy 2015- 2022 is to get everybody active, everyday.

This cannot be achieved by one organisation alone. To increase physical activity there needs to be cross-sector collaboration, from providers and commissioners in transportation, planning, education, sport and leisure, culture, social care,health, the voluntary and community sector, as well as public and private employers.

This strategy is intentionally concise so that we can focus our attention on action. This strategy has links to key national documents which give a wealth of information on increasing physical activity.

We all need to come together to make being active a routine part of our lives.

Version 1 23 Oct 2014

Cherry Jones (to be agreed)

Acting Director of Public Health

Swindon Borough Council

Brian Mattock (to be agreed)

Deputy leader of the council

Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care

Swindon Borough Council

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Version 1 23 Oct 2014

Why be active?

Participation in any type of physical activity contributes to the quality of life of individuals and the community in which we live. There is some form of physical activity that will suit everyone’s needs- it includes diverse forms of everyday activities from walking and gardening to dance and housework.

This positive contribution can be seen across the whole spectrum of our community as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: The benefits of physical activity[1]

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How active do we need to be? Recommendations for different age groups[2]

The guidance refers to different of levels of activity. Undertaking moderate activity means that someone will breathe faster, experience an increase in heart rate and feel warmer. They may even sweat on hot or humid days. The amount of activity needed to reach this varies from one person to another.A person who is doing vigorous intensity activity will usually be breathing very hard, be short of breath, have a rapid heartbeat and not be able to carry on a conversation comfortably

Population group / Recommendation
Early years – under 5s / 1. Physical activity should be encouraged from birth, particularly through floor-based play and water-based activities in safe environments.
2. Children of pre-school age* who are capable of walking unaided should be physically active daily for at least 180 minutes (3 hours), spread throughout the day.
3. All under 5s should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (being restrained or sitting) for extended periods (except time spent sleeping).
Children and young people
(5-18 years) / 1. All children and young people should engage in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes and up to several hours every day.
2. Vigorous intensity activities, including those that strengthen muscle and bone, should be incorporated at least three days a week.
3. All children and young people should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods.
Adults (19-64 years) / 1. Adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes (2½ hours) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more – one way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week. NICE guidance[3] for pregnant women advises that moderate-intensity physical activity will not harm her or her unborn child. At least 30 minutes per day of moderate intensity activity is recommended.
2. Alternatively, comparable benefits can be achieved through 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity spread across the week or a combination of moderate and vigorous intensity activity.
3. Adults should also undertake physical activity to improve muscle strength on at least two days a week.
4. All adults should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods.
Older adults (65 years +) / 1. Older adults who participate in any amount of physical activity gain some health benefits, including maintenance of good physical and cognitive function. Some physical activity is better than none, and more physical activity provides greater health benefits.
2. Older adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes (2½ hours) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more – one way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week.
3. For those who are already regularly active at moderate intensity, comparable benefits can be achieved through 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity spread across the week or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity.
4. Older adults should also undertake physical activity to improve muscle strength on at least two days a week.
5. Older adults at risk of falls should incorporate physical activity to improve balance and co-ordination on at least two days a week.
6. All older adults should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods.

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How active are we now?

The national picture[4]- a snapshot

• Men are more active than women in virtually every age group. Physical activity declines with age to the extent that by the age of 75 years only one in ten men and one in 20 women are active enough for good health.
• 33% of men and 45% women do not meet the current Chief Medical Officers (CMO) recommendations for physical activity.
• 19% of men and 26% of women are physically ‘inactive, which is doing less than 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity per week.
• 18% of disabled adults regularly take part in sport compared to 39% of non-disabled adults
• Girls are less likely to take part in physical activity than boys, and participation begins to drop even more from the age of ten to 11.
• 21% of boys and 16% of girls aged 5-15 meet the CMO recommendations for activity in children; 47% of boys and 49% of girls in the lowest economic group are ‘inactive’ compared to 26% of boys and 35% of girls in the highest
• Walking trips decreased by 30% between 1995 and 2013
• 64% of trips are made by car, 22% by foot, 2% by bike
• people living in the least prosperous areas are twice as likely to be physically inactive as those living in more prosperous areas
• only 11% of Bangladeshi women and 26% of men are sufficientlyactive for good health compared with 25/37% of the generalpopulation
• half of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people say theywould not join a sports club, twice the number of their heterosexualcounterparts

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Current physical activity and inactivity levels in Swindon (2013)[5]

Increasing physical activity and reducing inactivity are bothimportant for good health and wellbeing. Swindon has a higher prevalence of inactive people and a lower prevalence of active people compared tothe average of local authorities with similar deprivation levels, England and the South West (Public health outcomes data 2013.)

Physical activity levels – Figure 2

SWINDON

SOUTH WEST

PEER GROUP*

ENGLAND

Percentage of physically active adults (>150 mins per week)

* Average of local authorities with similar deprivation levels (Public Health Outcomes Framework: )

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Physical Inactivity levels – figure 3

SWINDON

SOUTH WEST

PEER GROUP*

ENGLAND

Percentage of physically inactive adults (<30 mins per week)

* Average of local authorities with similar deprivation levels (Public Health Outcomes Framework:)

Local data

Swindon travel choices survey

This survey of staff working for eight[6] town centre employers in Swindon was conducted in 2011 and 2013. The survey in October 2011 had a response rate of 26.6% (2000 out of 7500 surveyed). It was repeated in October 2013and achieved a total of 1,388 from a potential 7,030 responses resulting in a response rate of 19.7%.The findings of this survey are summarised in Figure 2. As can be seen by the graph, most people choose to use cars as a means of transport to work.

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Figure 4 – Percentage of staff using different modes of transport to get to work at eight town centre workplaces

Travel to school

SBC encourages active travel to school. Sixteen schools within Swindon have developed ‘5 minute walk zones’ over the last few years, to encourage walking and reduce car use. The proportion of pupils walking to school has increased within primary schools from 61.1% in 2008 to 64.3% in 2014. (Swindon Mode of Travel Survey Jan 2014). The change was less apparent in secondary schools (56.8% in 2008 to 57.7% in 2014). This may be due to secondary school pupils having to travel further (average distance 1.89 km) than primary school pupils (average distance 0.98).

Community projects focusing on physical activity

The Tri-Active is a 3 year project which started in 2013 and aims to increase the number of people participating in running, cycling and swimming in Swindon. During the first 12 months the project has recruited 656 participants who previously had little or no opportunity to be active. Before the project the majority of participants (65.1%) were not active on any days of the week. The average number of days in which the participants did 30 minutes of sports/ physical activity rose from 0.6 days to 4.08 days in the course of a year.

Swindon Health Walks are weekly group walks that encourage enjoyment of the borough's parks and open spaces. A total of 675 individual walkers attended at least one health walk between January 2013 and December 2013. This included 263 new walkers. The walking groups are targeting the inactive. Half of new Health Walkers did 30 minutes of physical activity on two or less days a week before joining a Health Walk (11% did not do 30 minutes on any day of the week).

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Framework of strategies influencing physical activity within Swindon

Figure5- Strategies which influence physical activity in Swindon

The development and delivery of physical activity is not within the remit of any one organisation but is a commitment and responsibility which is shared across a number of partners in Swindon. The Active Swindon Strategy will impact on other strategies and vice versa as shown in the diagram above. Furthermore we need to support and develop cross-sector collaboration, from any organisation that can support an increase in physical activity including transportation, planning, education, sport and leisure, culture, social care, health, the voluntary and community sector, as well as public and private employers.

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Current opportunities for physical activity in Swindon

Below are some ways in which organisations in Swindon encourage and promote physical activity. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Figure 6 – An overview of initiatives promoting physical activity in Swindon

Early years
Alive 'n' Kicking - healthy lifestyles programme
Balanceability training
Children and young people
Healthy schools
Swindon school sports partnership
Street Games
5 minute walking zones around schools
School travel ambassador scheme
Bikeability training
Adults
Swindon Health walks
Tri-active project- promoting running, cylcing and swimming to inactive people
Exercise on referral schemes
Exercise groups for those with health conditions e.g. COPD class
Ability sports
Workplace health
Over 65s
Health walks
Exercise on referral schemes
Outreach exercise sessions
Classes tailored to ability e.g. gentle and seated exercise classes

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The vision

Our vision for Swindon is ‘everybody active every day’.

How will we achieve this?

The key to increasing physical activity is to build it into everybody’s lives, so that it becomes a routine part of everyday life.

As part of the development of this strategy we have undertaken initial consultation exercises to consider how we develop our work to support an increase in physical activity in Swindon. This consultation showed that there is already a range of opportunities within Swindon supporting people to be more active, such as sports and leisure clubs, work around sustainable transport (walking and cycling) and the built environment, work in schools, and workplaces. This work is on-going and the strategy acknowledges this and aims to support its continued development. It was felt that the Active Swindon action plan should particularly focus on areas of work that promote an increase in activity in the inactive and reduce inactivity overall. From the consultation discussion these areas were identified as priority areas:

1. Promote walking as a form of exercise which can be built into everyday life
2. Support neighbourhoods and communities with grass roots initiatives to promote physical activity
3. Encourage those who are physically inactive to increase their activity levels
4. Influence the built environment so that being active becomes an easy choice for Swindon residents
5. Encourage physical activity within workplaces
6. Encourage frontline professionals to promote physical activity
7. Continue to provide easily accessible information on opportunities for physical activity within Swindon

This strategy and its priority areas will be implemented through the Active Swindon action plan. The Healthy Weight Implementationgroup oversees the implementation of the Active Swindon action plan as well as the Healthy Weight action plan.The action plan is separate as it is a working documentavailablefrom Fiona Dickens, Public Health Programme, Manager at Swindon Borough Council (Contact details: 01793 444680)

How will we measure our success?

The proportion of physically active and inactive residents in Swindon will be monitored as part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

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Appendix 1: Diversity impact assessment

Swindon Borough Council Diversity Impact Assessment

1 What’s it about? Refer to equality duties
What is the proposal? What outcomes/benefits are you hoping to achieve?
The Active Swindon strategy 2015-2022 aims to improve health and wellbeing in Swindon through supporting an increase in levels of physical activity and reducing inactivity across the whole population, particularly working with those who have the lowest activity levels. The strap line for the strategy is ‘everybody active, everyday’. It incorporates outcomes to increase physical activity.
The aim will be achieved through building physical activity into everybody’s lives, so that it becomes a routine part of everyday life. Therefore, the Active Swindon Strategy sets out to:
1.Promote walking as a form of exercise which can be built into everyday life
2.Support neighbourhoods and communities with grass roots initiatives to promote physical activity
3.Encourage those who are physically inactive to increase their activity levels
4.Influence the built environment so that being active becomes an easy choice for Swindon residents

1. Encourage physical activity within workplaces
2. Encourage frontline professionals to promote physical activity
3. Continue to provide easily accessible information on opportunities for physical activity within Swindon

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Who’s it for?
The strategy covers the whole population and recognises that everyone can be more active. It therefore covers all equality groups.
How will this proposal meet the equality duties?
The programmes to increase physical activity will consider groups where physical activity levels are low, including in equality groups e.g. the Tri-active programme in Swindon target groups include women and black and minority ethnic communities who have low levels of physical activity.
National guidelines included in the strategy for activity include guidance for different age groups and disabilities. The national guidance (
states
“The guidelines for each life stage apply to all; however, barriers related to gender, ethnicity, disability and access need to be addressed. The challenge then is to work across communities, bringing together all those organisations and professions with a part to play – local government, business, third sector organisations, planners, sport and local champions – to make physical activity not just an aspiration for the few, but rather a reality for all”.

• Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation- Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) people experience marginalisation and face discriminatory attitudes and practices in communities that are dominated by structures and process of heteronormativity and this can impact on their participation in some sports or can mean that they do not identify themselves as LGB&T e.g. the number of LGB&T people are under-represented in major sports (Buchanan-Parker, L. (2012) ‘Out in Sport: LGBT Students’ Experiences of Sport’. London: NUS- The issue of underrepresentation of LGB&T people has particularly been noted in major league football in the national media. There are also similar problems of discrimination and harassment with some black and minority ethnic sports players. There has been an increase in racial diversity as many major sports try to tackle this issue; however there are still occasions of racial abuse reported in the national media. Therefore the staff delivering local programmes are required to be trained to be welcoming to all clients and to not discriminate, harass or victimise any group; the same standards of behaviour are expected for clients.
• Advance equality of opportunity-Underpinning the strategy is the opportunity for everyone to maximise the likelihood of achieving a healthy life and reducing the risk of illness through increasing physical activity. By providing additional support and information for people who are inactive promotes equality of opportunity to health. The strategy also explicitly recognises the increased risk of inactivity and subsequent ill-health in different communities such as some BME communities and amongst people with learning disabilities. Swindon Borough Council has developed a number of programmes that support people with learning and physical disabilities to be more active e.g. the ability sports programme. Several of the local programmes incorporate people with disabilities into the mainstream activity e.g. the Dietbusters weight management programme includes 45 minutes of physical activity as a circuit, this can be adapted for participant’s requirements including all disabilities; the walking programme has different level walks, which incorporate disabilities. In all the programmes provided there will be consideration of the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty and in particular the need to have due regard to advance equality of opportunity.
• Foster good relations- most of the programmes to increase physical activity draw together people from different communities and the aim is to encourage socialisation as part of the programme as a way of attracting people to the programme e.g. the health walks allow people from different backgrounds to get together; we have seen a growth in the health walks and now have the biggest sized health walks in England. At the end of the health walk there is always the opportunity to have a cup of tea and a chat.

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