The Ministry of Health, through the Institute of Public and Occupational Health of Navarre (ISPLN/NOPLOI), is promoting, in a new campaign entitled “Muévete / Mugitu”, the inclusion of active habits in daily life, to increase the level of physical activity and to reduce a sedentary lifestyle. The data presented in the 2021 Survey of Health and Living Conditions indicate that there is room for improvement in Navarre for people to be more active, as, as highlighted, more than half of the population of Navarre have inactive habits in their spare time and four out of every ten people sit most of the day in Their main activity.

The “Muévete / Mugitu” campaign is part of the Lifestyles Program of the Public Health Plan of Navarre 2022-2025 and is in line with the World Health Organization and its Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030 “More active people for a healthier world”. which calls for more active environments, people and systems, with the important goal of reducing the rate of sedentary lifestyle among adults and adolescents by 15% by 2030 on a global scale.

The campaign, presented by Director General of Health Antonio López Andrés and Director General of the Institute of Public and Occupational Health of Navarra (ISPLN) Mengeles Noen Villanueva, proposes, on the one hand, to integrate active habits into daily life with progressive activities, providing examples and ideas to encourage citizens to move. Current recommendations on physical activity and sedentary lifestyle, published by Ministry of HealthHe stressed that all movements are important and beneficial to health. On the other hand, the campaign reminds us of the importance of limiting a sedentary lifestyle, as a person can do the recommended physical activity, but not comply with a sedentary lifestyle by spending the entire working day sitting, for example.

“Regular physical activity and a reduction in a sedentary lifestyle have a clear impact on improving health and well-being, preventing chronic diseases and increasing hope in life,” explained ISPLN Director General.

For this reason, Nouwen argues that “every person at their own pace” can incorporate active habits throughout their daily life, making small changes to their daily routine. The campaign focuses on four daily areas for which several examples are suggested, such as benefiting from mobility during household chores, commuting, or breaks in the main activity or leisure time. All proposals are collected on the site navarra.es / mugitu.nafarroa.euswhich includes a video central to the campaign, in which three different people, in different situations and environments, incorporate active habits into their daily lives.

“Muévete / Mugitu”, which will take place in September and October, includes radio advertisements, advertisements on local television, billboards on marquees, health centers, popular social services, local entities, libraries, posting at sporting events, as well as messages on social networks with the tags #Muevete #Mugitu. In addition, an educational paper containing simple and feasible proposals will be distributed in the press, which will also be used in primary care in educational interventions.

Commitment to public health and health promotion

The Director General of Health, Antonio López Andres, stressed that every effort dedicated to strengthening these measures in relation to public and occupational health, such as this health promotion campaign, will lead to an improvement in the health of the people of Navarre. – Reducing the disease burden of the population.

“Public and occupational health is essential to prevent diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity and cancer, among others, thus improving the quality of life and increasing life expectancy. This is the motivation that drives us to launch health promotion campaigns such as “Muévete / Mugitu”, which It aims to incorporate healthy lifestyle habits within the reach of any person, such as increasing physical exercise in our daily lives, with the aim of preventing many diseases. He explained that existing diseases, as well as preserving existing ones.

Likewise, he highlighted that these types of actions are already in the health plan and in the various strategies being implemented, but this would be an important commitment in this legislature.

More than half of the population has sedentary habits in their free time

According to the 2021 Health and Living Conditions Survey, prepared by the Navarrese Institute of Statistics (NASTAT) and analyzed by the Navarrese Institute of Statistics (NASTAT) Community Health Observatory In the “Lifestyles” series, 30.9% of Navarrese residents over 15 years of age declared that they do not engage in any physical or sporting activity in their free time, and 23.7% do some activities sometimes. Therefore, more than half of the population of Navarrese have sedentary habits in their free time. Furthermore, 83.5% of Navarre residents aged 16 or older watch television daily for an average of 173 minutes.

On the other hand, the Survey of Basic Characteristics of Population and Housing 2021 reflects that 23% of the population aged 16 years and over who work or study go to their workplace or study by walking or cycling at least one day. From his daily trips. Once their main activity begins, four in ten people (40.7%) remain seated for most of the day, according to the Health and Living Conditions Survey.

Data shows that at all times of the day there is room for improvement to achieve more active and less sedentary habits. However, in comparison with the autonomous communities, Navarra is the third with the lowest percentage of sedentary leisure lifestyle.

General benefits and recommendations

Regular physical activity provides multiple benefits to all people, at any age, and whatever their health condition: it maintains agility, improves sleep, provides emotional and mental well-being, helps maintain proper weight, prevents diseases, provides opportunities for socialization and promotes independence All people . In turn, incorporating these habits allows us to contribute to preserving and protecting the environment and enhancing its sustainability.

On the other hand, reducing a sedentary lifestyle also leads to health benefits, as it reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers such as colon, lung or endometrial, and also reduces all-cause mortality.