Getting active and staying active easier with positive support

As part of the SummerActive campaign, Big Daddy and the Sudbury & District Health Unit have been inviting workplaces, schools and the entire community to “Get up, Get Out and Get Summer Active.” During this six-week campaign, we have been challenging you to tell us how you get active. This is a fun way to highlight some of the great opportunities we have to be active in our community.

We’re hopeful that this campaign inspired you and others to get physically active. Now that the campaign is coming to an end, it is important to highlight the need for you to stay active, not just through summer, but all year long.

We know for a lot of people, getting and staying active can be difficult. There are a number of factors at play in our everyday lives that make exercise difficult. That’s why it’s important to look at our environments to make sure these can help us get and stay active. This idea may sound strange to you at first, but supportive environments have been of public health interest for quite some time.

What do we mean when we talk about supportive environments? Well, it means that the areas where you live, work, learn and play help make the healthy choice the easy choice. One example of this is having bike racks available; their simple presence makes it a lot easier for people who choose to ride their bikes. Being a cyclist, I know that I am much more likely to ride my bike to work or for errands when I know there is somewhere safe and convenient to lock my bike. And, no, trees don’t count. This example highlights how our physical environments can help us get active, but in reality, changes to the physical environment can often be the most difficult and costly to achieve.

Changes to the social environment can also help us be physically active. For instance, if your workplace has a more relaxed dress code, it makes it easier for people who choose to walk or cycle to work. Another option would be to give employees flexibility with their lunch breaks for those who want to get active during the day. Schools can also contribute to supportive social environments by providing opportunities for physical activity during intramural programs or organizing a safe active route to school program. You can also contribute to supportive social environments at the individual or family level by being a buddy for someone to get active. Increasing your physical activity can be easier if you take someone along with you.

As you think about how you can get active where you live, work, learn and play, consider what changes might be needed to make it easier for you to get active. Not only could these changes help you get and stay active, but they would likely help others as well.

Julie Vaillancourt is a health promoter on the Nutrition and Physical Activity Action Team at the Sudbury & District Health Unit. This is the fourth in a series of five columns.