Brussels, 25/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - According to the results of the latest Eurobarometer survey on sport and physical activity, 59% of European Union citizens rarely - or indeed never - engage in any physical activity or sport, and 41% do this at least once a week. These results are worse than those of the 2009 survey, which already revealed that Europeans were worryingly sedentary. “The results of the Eurobarometer confirm the need for measures to encourage more people to make sport and physical activity a part of their daily lives. This is crucial, not only in terms of an individual's health, wellbeing and integration, but also because of the significant economic costs resulting from physical inactivity”, said European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vassiliou, adding that the Commission was determined to support the member states in their efforts to encourage the public to be more active. “We will implement the recently adopted Council recommendation on health-enhancing physical activity and move ahead with plans for a European Week of Sport. The new Erasmus+ programme will also - for the first time - provide funding for transnational initiatives to promote sport and physical activity”, Vassiliou added.
The survey reveals that Northern Europeans are more physically active than those from the South and East. Indeed, 70% of respondents in Sweden said they exercise or play sport at least once a week, just ahead of Denmark (68%) and Finland (66%), followed by the Netherlands (58%) and Luxembourg (54%). At the other end of the scale, 78% never do so in Bulgaria, followed by Malta (75%), Portugal (64%), Romania (60%) and Italy (60%). In addition, the survey shows that local authorities in particular could do more to encourage citizens to be physically active. While 74% of respondents believe that local sport clubs and other providers provide sufficient opportunities for this, 39% think their local authorities are not doing enough.
Eurobarometer states that: (1) there are more men than women who exercise or practise a sport - a disparity which is especially marked in 15-24 year old age range; (2) the three main reasons given for people practising a sport are the improvement of their state health (62%), the improvement of their physical condition (40%) and for relaxation (36%). The lack of time is, on the contrary, the main reason given for not doing sport regularly (42%) - ahead of lack of motivation (20%) and the existence of a handicap or being ill (13%).
Since the adoption, in 2012, of the Council conclusions on promoting health-enhancing physical activity and on strengthening the data available with a view to the development of sport policy, the Commission has been asked to publish regular surveys on sport and physical activity. In May 2014, the Council is due to adopt a new multiannual EU working plan in favour of sport. In order to encourage citizens to do more physical activity and sport, the Commission plans to launch a European Week of Sport, starting in 2015. (IL)