People of Mayo encouraged to escape their chair this month
The Irish Heart Foundation has launched its month-long heart health campaign entitled Escape Your Chair.
The campaign, which aims to raise awareness of prolonged sitting as a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, will be empowering and encouraging the public to move more and sit less throughout September for heart month, by providing tools and guides to get active.
An Ipsos MRBI Omnipoll revealed that people in Ireland spend on average 7.3 hours a day sitting down. Higher levels of sedentary behaviour are associated with a 147% increase in the risk of heart disease and stroke. There is increasing evidence that the positive health benefits of exercise may not entirely counteract the negative effects of a mostly sedentary lifestyle.
As part of its Escape Your Chair heart month campaign, the Irish Heart Foundation has created a range of resources to help people sit less and move more. These include: an online sitting time calculator, a Deskercise video, a Move More Walking Challenge, a Couch to 5k guide, as well as expert tips and advice on how to increase physical activity levels. These are available at www.EscapeYourChair.ie.
On Saturday, September 28, to help people escape their chair and support the work of the Irish Heart Foundation, the charity is calling on locals to walk, jog or run in the Irish Heart Foundation Heart Hero 5k at parkrun events across Mayo in association with parkrun Ireland. The Irish Heart Foundation Heart Hero 5k can be completed in Mayo at: Ballina parkrun (Belleek); Castlebar parkrun (Castlebar Tennis Club, Lannagh Road); Claremorris parkrun (McMahon Park - Clare Lake), Erris parkrun (Cross Loop, Cross, Binghamstown, Belmullet); and Westport parkrun (greenway path). Log on to www.EscapeYourChair.ie to learn more and get your free training plan.
Tara Curran, Slí na Sláinte coordinator with the Irish Heart Foundation, said: “80% of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable and as physical inactivity is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, we are encouraging the people of Mayo to make some small changes to incorporate more physical activity into their day.
“It is recommended that we get 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity at least five days of the week, but this does not cancel out the damage caused to our health by sitting for long periods of time. According to the latest Irish Sports Monitor (2017), 13% of Irish adults are sedentary. Small changes can go a long way to improve your heart health.”