Minister urges older people to get active
More older people must take part in physical activity to keep fit and live longer, Minister for Sports Seamus Brennan said today.
A new report published today showed that over half of the elderly population is classified as having a sedentary lifestyle which Mr Brennan said was not acceptable.
He said people in their senior years had made an enormous contribution to the growth and prosperity of modern Ireland and must be rewarded.
He added: “It is only right that we recognise that contribution by ensuring that they are given every opportunity in their later lives to have access to sporting, physical and cultural activities that can make a valuable contribution to giving them well deserved improved longevity, as well as healthier and more satisfying later years.”
The report, 'Physical Activity and Sport: Participation and Attitudes of Older People in Ireland' was commissioned jointly by Go for Life and the Irish Sports Council.
Mr Brennan said the research was a timely wake-up call to the challenges facing Irish society as levels of life expectancy rise while at the same time we have an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.
The researchers asked 1,000 people over 50 years of age about their participation in and attitudes to sport and physical activity.
The report found that 39% of older people participate in sport and recreational physical activity regularly but that only 15% are doing enough to maintain and improve their health.
For most of those who are active, walking is their preferred activity while the next most popular activity is golf.
It found that 58% of older people in Ireland are classified as having a sedentary lifestyle but a majority of those who do not engage in regular sporting or physical activity believe that they do an adequate amount of exercise.
Some 40% of those surveyed agreed that they would like to participate in sport and physical activity at a higher level than they are able to which suggests that there is a latent appetite for increased physical activity among older people in Ireland.
The Irish Sports Council has set a target to increase all adult participation in sport by 1.5% before 2008.
Mr Brennan also today announced €350,000 to more than 600 groups under the National Grant Scheme for Sport and Physical Activity for Older People.
The groups include active retirement associations, senior citizens clubs, ICA guilds, sports clubs, day centres and community centres.
The grant aid is being used to buy sports equipment, to fund sport and activity programmes and to contribute to the cost of organising local sports events.
