Free app launched to help the over-40s exercise

A NEW free app has been launched in a bid to get Yorkshire’s middle-aged adults up and moving in response to startling evidence of inactivity.

Public Health England has launched the innovative app after it found at least 610,000 middleaged adults across Yorkshire and the Humber do not do 10 minutes of brisk walking each month.

The widespread lack of exercise among 40 to 60-year-olds is alarming, as just a 10-minute walk each day can reduce the risk of early death by as much as 15 per cent.

Study findings also reveal how lifestyles have changed over time, with people in the UK being 20 per cent less active now than they were in the 1960s.

On average, people walk 15 miles less each year than they did two decades ago.

PHE’s new One You campaign wants adults to build 10 minutes continuous brisk walking into each day as a simple way to improve health. It is particularly aimed at those with sedentary lifestyles.

To help people, the ‘Active 10’ app has been developed to show how much brisk walking its user does on a daily basis, and how to do more.

It has been developed in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine.

The app combines walking intensity and time, rather than just distance or steps, and is the first of its kind. It helps people gradually introduce more activity into their routine, with goal setting advice and motivational tips. It has already motivated 50,000 adults to get moving.

A ten-minute walk can help towards 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week. This can lead to a 40 per cent lowered risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (by 35 per cent), dementia (by 30 per cent) and some cancers (by 20 per cent).

Lack of activity in adults contributes to one in six deaths in the UK and is costing the NHS over £0.9bn per year.

Frances Cunning, from PHE in Yorkshire and The Humber, said: “Our new evidence review shows that small changes can make a real difference to our health.”