Exercise more important for mental health since covid - survey
Otautahi - Exercise is hugely more important for people’s mental health since covid arrived 16 month ago, according to a major new ExerciseNZ survey.
In 2018, just seven percent of the public surveyed by ExerciseNZ said they exercised for mental health.
ExerciseNZ’s latest survey shows 63 percent of people are now exercising to help with their mental health.
“This is really positive and is a greater awareness of why exercise helps on so many levels,” ExerciseNZ chief executive Richard Beddie says.
“With stress, and mental health challenges at an all-time high, we need all the tools at our disposal that we can.
“Exercise is as effective as anti-depressants when treating mild to moderate depression, according to research.
“More support is needed for comprehensive exercise support programmes, not just medication and pills.
“The government, including the Prime Minister, has repeatedly stated their commitment to improving mental health, including announcing several large planned financial investments.
“But by having a Wellbeing Budget, they appear to focus only on treatment and not prevention. We urgently call on the government to talk to us about how we can help.
“If we want to help hundreds of thousands of Kiwis, without just medicating an entire generation, we need to work together to increase physical activity levels.
“This is especially important for those most at risk from mental health, and the least physically active, which are the same groups - Maori, Pacific people, those with disabilities and those in lower social economic households.
“The health system focuses far too much on treating mental health like every other condition by medicating when the issue gets severe enough. This approach just isn’t working and isn’t sustainable.
“We have the opportunity to be creative with a focus on prevention and providing more tools to help people manage themselves, and also know when to ask for help.”
For further information contact Make Lemonade NZ editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.