Active Leisure Participation case study – for levels 1, 2 and 3 Background One of the big challenges for the government and for those working within the National Health Service is to encourage the UK population to be more active. Both commercial and non-commercial organisations within the Leisure Industry play a major role in encouraging healthy and active lifestyles, by providing a vast range of opportunities for people to take exercise, while having fun! Active and Passive Leisure Activities Passive = non-active. Here are some examples:

Active and Passive Leisure Activities

• Active leisure includes activities like:– Taking part in a

game of tennis or basketball

– Visiting a theme park

• Passive leisure includes activities like:– Going to an art

exhibition– ‘Leisure’ shopping

Definitions of ‘active’ and ‘passive’ usually create a lot of discussion. For some activities it is clear that they are either ‘active’ or ‘passive’. For other activities it is not so clear e.g. one person may go leisure shopping by getting in their car, parking near the entrance of a shopping mall and gently strolling around the shops. Another person may walk a kilometre to the bus stop, catch the bus, walk another kilometre to the shopping mall, then dash about shopping from one end of the mall to the other.

Participation levels Millions of people in the UK take part in sport or physical recreation (sports participation). There is a worrying number of people (20m in England) that do not participate in sport at all and there are government initiatives to address this through the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and organisations such as:

• Sport England (www.sportengland.org)

• SportScotland (www.sportscotland.org.uk)

• The Sports Council for Wales (now SportWales) (www.sports-council-wales.org.uk)

• The Sports Council for Northern Ireland (now SportNorthernIreland) (www.sportni.net)

• UK Sport (www.uksport.gov.uk)

• SkillsActive (www.skillsactive.com)

The National School Sport Strategy is to ensure that all pupils receive 2 hours quality PE and sport each week by 2010. Despite many pressures, plans are progressing for hosting the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Projections from Sheffield Hallam University are of a 29% growth in spend on active sport in the run up to the Olympic Games in London in 2012. 40 years ago in the UK there were less cars, people walked more, there were fewer ready-made meals to buy and cooking and housework involved more physical exertion, as there were less labour saving devices and products. The Health and Fitness sector of the Leisure Industry plays a vital part in encouraging healthier living by providing opportunities for exercise for today’s more sedentary population. The FIA State of the Fitness Industry Report 2007 (BISL 2007/8 Handbook) indicates that: the UK’s £4billion fitness industry is in the best shape of its 20-year history, with more members than ever before. 12% of the population are now registered as members of a health and fitness club or publicly owned fitness facility. Like-for like- membership has grown by 3% since 1st January 2006.

There are noteworthy regional variations. Membership penetration in London and the South East is higher than the national average. The North East and South West of England experienced the largest like-for-like membership growth in private club memberships, while the East Midlands was top of the impressive growth rates in the public sector. Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands had lower than average membership penetration. The differences in regional health and fitness club membership levels may be linked to several factors, for example variations in disposable income, attitudes to fashion and health, more clubs in areas with high density populations. Studies have identified a correlation between high membership penetration and reduced obesity risk levels.

Lifestyle influences Different people make different choices about lifestyle. There are many influences such as:

• family and friends – we are all influenced by the lifestyle choices of those around us

• our own current level of fitness

• the amount of money available to spend on leisure activities

• the media and broadcasting

• government initiatives such as recent emphasis on all school children at some point during their education experiencing ‘The Outdoors’, and additional funding for grass roots football and other sports to reverse recent trends towards fewer opportunities for some school children to participate in sport and other forms of exercise

• the amount of spare time we have

• fashion

• individual career choices

Some influences, such as the good examples of many sporting heroes, encourage an active and healthy lifestyle. Other influences such as celebrities who drink and take drugs, can encourage imitation, particularly by young people, and lead to unhealthy lifestyles. Fashion focus - dance No one should underestimate the influence of changing fashions, and the role of broadcasting and the media in lifestyle choices and in the popularity of particular sports, forms of exercise and activities. For example, there is currently a great interest in dance, mainly in response to programmes such as ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. TV programmes are picked up, shown around the world, and adapted for different home audiences. As a result the recent growth in the number of dance studies in the UK is reflected in other countries, such as the USA. People who love to dance say it becomes a compulsion - a good compulsion as it helps you to stay healthy, gets your heart rate going, keeps your body and mind sharp, gives you a creative outlet and a form of self expression, is great for making new friends, is always an asset socially – and of course at the same time dancing is a really enjoyable activity. You don’t have to be a professional dancer to get involved. From salsa to tap dancing, the tango to the waltz, ordinary people all over the world are hitting the dance floor two or three times a week. Many people dislike other forms of exercise like running, swimming or going to a gym, but dancing can provide a real workout – and fun. Health and fitness clubs for years have offered classes in jazz dance and other dance oriented exercise, and the opportunities for dance continue to expand. One of the big fitness trends for 2007 was working out in places like dance studios, with numbers of dance students increasing substantially. Some UK schools are even introducing dancing as a fun way to help their students to improve their health and fitness levels. Dance enthusiasts point out that the faster, longer and more vigorously you move, the more calories you'll burn and the more aerobic your dance session will be. They say that an adult weighing 10 -11 stone (about 60 to 70 kg) can burn 150 calories doing 30 minutes of moderate dancing, such as folk, jazz, tap and square dancing. That compares to a half-hour of low-impact aerobics or a brisk walk. With fast ballroom dancing, ballet or modern dancing, you can get rid of 200 or more calories in half an hour. Even slower dances like the waltz and fox trot can burn off around 100 calories. Fitness experts say that dancing can help to strengthen bones and muscles without hurting the joints, improves posture and balance, increases stamina and flexibility, and basically tones the whole body.