“Physical inactivity is a leading social issue facing the society as a whole. As rates of overweight and obesity are rising dramatically, FESI is committed to providing more and better opportunities for all citizens to play sport and be active.”, declared Frank Dassler, FESI President.
Physical activity in Europe is stagnating and even declining in some countries, with a negative impact on people’s quality of life, as well as on the economy. According to the European Commission, the proportion of people who never exercise or play sport is worryingly high at 35%! Girls are more likely to do less exercise or sport than boys.
As part of the #BeActive campaign, the European Week of Sport (23-30 September) is organising thousands of events across Europe. The events will focus on sport in schools, workplaces, outdoors, in sport clubs and fitness centres.
Since it’s launch five years ago, over 40 million people have taken part across 38 countries! “FESI was one of the first partners of the European Week of Sport (EWoS) and since 2015 we have been organising several activities and workshops with our members to make people more active. Every year, we pay particular attention to the younger generations because we believe that active kids perform better in their classrooms, communities and future careers”, explained Jérôme Pero, FESI Secretary General.“We are very proud to be in Espoo today, to participate in the official launch of the 5th edition of EWoS through our BeActive stand!”, he added.
The European Commissioner responsible for Sport, Tibor Navracsics, added: “The lack of physical activity in our modern lifestyles leads to major health problems and costs our economies billions. We can all be active in different ways – from taking a short walk to running a marathon. I am calling on everyone to join us in the European Week of Sport.”
