Make health education integral part of sport activities-fitness clubs told

Accra: Dr Patience Cofie, Country Manager PATH Ghana, has urged keep fit clubs and partners of the 'Community Sport and Health Cooperation' project to make health education an integral part of their activities. It was crucial because without the component of health education in any physical activity undertaken would not be classified as part of the initiative, Dr Cofie told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on the project implementation. The Community Sport and Health Cooperation initiative seeks to improve community sport to reduce the increasing cases of Non-Communicable Diseases in the country. The three-year project is led by a Global Steering Committee, including the international Olympic Committee, World Health Organisation (WHO) and implemented in Ghana by PATH. It aims to strengthen collaborations between the sports and health sectors through implementing co-created sport-based community programmes jointly delivered by health sports stakeholders to increase participation to improve physical, m ental, and social wellbeing. The PATH Country Manager said, 'a partner like the Ministry of Sports in organising its sport activities such as the African Games held in Ghana must make conscious effort to include health education as part of their normal activities. 'In that same vein a partner like the Ministry of Health or the Ghana Health Service in organising their normal health education on Hypertension for instance must also make conscious effort to Include a component of physical activity to make it complete. One component cannot be done without the other. The two must always come to play,' she explained. Dr Cofie expressed concern that the habit of institutions organising physical activity at Aburi, where people park their cars at the foot of the mountain, climb up and down, at the end eat and drink was more of socialization classified as wellness. She said though that physical activity in most cases had an element of well-being, its organisation was not intentional to include health talk, and the p roject emphasizes health as a component. 'If you are engaging in sporting or any physical activities, have it in mind that you are doing it to Improve your health status particularly to reduce or prevent hypertension and diabetes because once you engage in sport without that consciousness you will not be able to maintain good health status,' she added. Dr Cofie urged people who engage in physical activities to always eat well, reduce alcohol intake to zero, if possible, reduce salt, fat, sugar intake, and ensure that they walk for good health. She said some people have the habit of not including fruits and vegetables in their meals at all, adding that this was bad and advised such people to be intentional about what they eat. 'Let your meals be your medicines rather than taking medicines as food. Spend money eating well because it's better than paying for sickness, which comes with other things,' Dr Cofie said. Source: Ghana News Agency