Health and Fitness

Even moderate activity can help improve your overall health by reducing your risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes certain types of cancer, high blood pressure, controlling your weight. keeping your bones, muscles and joints supple and healthy and even improving your mood and outlook on life.

The problem lies in getting enough exercise, partly because of other demands on our time and partly because of the 'push button' culture we live in that takes the hard work out of so many everyday tasks.

Get active, stay healthy

To begin feeling the benefits, you don’t have to throw yourself into high impact exercise at the gym. There are plenty of ways you can gradually increase your levels of physical activity in your normal day-to-day life:

• Go for a brisk walk.
• Walk to the shops for 'light' shopping.
• Use the stairs instead of the lift or escalators.
• Get off the bus a stop early and walk home.
• Walk children to school instead of driving.
• Take children and pets for walks in the park.

The only rule is to be as active as possible, as often as you can, whenever you can. As a guide, you should aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity such as walking, swimming, housework or gardening every day.