No images? Click here Your weekly physical activity bulletin24 May 2022 We are working towards improving the health and wellbeing of the nation through sport, exercise and physical activity. For more information on our work visit our website or follow us on Twitter @NCSEM_PAnews New research suggests health education, Fitbits and cabin workouts can improve activity levels of lorry driversA targeted health programme, including health education sessions, Fitbits and lorry cabin workouts, can improve the activity levels of long-distance heavy goods drivers in the short term – according to new research led by Loughborough University. There are approximately 300,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers in the UK, but recently the industry has faced challenges with driver shortages and attracting new drivers. It is well established that HGV drivers are exposed to a number of health-related risk factors, such as shift work and long periods of sedentary behaviour (sitting), which contribute towards chronic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. The authors conclude that, although the longer-term benefits of the programme are unclear, it should be incorporated into HGV driver training courses to promote activity and help improve the health of this key workforce. New research on exercise and brain activity in the pre-frontal cortex of those with depressive symptomsDr Flaminia Ronca and Professor Mark Hamer at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH), recently published research investigating whether a single bout of intense exercise could improve brain activity in the pre-frontal cortex in participants who exhibit depressive symptoms. One hundred and six adults completed a series of executive function tests (simple reaction time, inhibition, XN attending, working memory) before and after a VO2max test on a treadmill. Brain activity was measured during the cognitive tests.They compared brain activity before and after the 15–20-minute bout of exhaustive exercise. The outcome revealed that everyone’s performance improved on the cognitive tests, and brain activity in the prefrontal cortex was enhanced by exercise (compared to a control resting group, to account for learning effects). The good news is that everyone improved, leading to the conclusion that exercise can indeed facilitate the engagement of executive functions in people with depressive symptoms. Partner toolkit for This Girl Can and Strava partnership publishedSport England has published a toolkit to help partners get involved and support women in their local area to get moving again, ahead of the launch of This Girl Can and Strava’s ‘Make Your Comeback’ campaign. The partnership with Strava launches to consumers later this month and will see the Make Your Comeback and This Girl Can Club introduced on the fitness tracking platform. The club will be the first ever on Strava, providing a supportive space for women to take that first back towards getting active again The toolkit which includes posters, social media posts and ideas for how a range of organisations can get involved, allows This Girl Can supporters to highlight what they are doing and spread the word to their community – inspiring women to get active again after taking a break from it. Ban on pavement parking would encourage more people to walk and wheelSustrans' Walking and Cycling Index (formerly Bike Life) is the UK's biggest ever study of walking, wheeling, and cycling. It highlights the issue of pavement parking in urban areas across the UK and Ireland and has found that banning pavement parking would help 70% of all residents to walk or wheel more. More than 24,000 people from eighteen cities and areas across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland were surveyed. Each report looks at infrastructure, travel behaviour, the impact of cycling and new initiatives. Sustrans' report, found that banning pavement parking would help 70% of all residents to walk or wheel more. A further 72% of residents think wider pavements would encourage them to do so. Pavement parking is currently prohibited in London. The UK government is now considering extending this across England. The Scottish government is set to introduce a ban on pavement parking in 2023 New Inclusion 2024 education hub to improve future PE experiencesTeachers across England will have access to resources for inclusive PE through the Inclusion 2024 inclusive education hub. It is created in partnership by Activity Alliance, Youth Sport Trust and Department for Education. The aim of the hub is to support more teachers responsible for PE and school sport to engage more disabled students. The impact will mean more young people have accessible, positive, and meaningful experiences that will last a lifetime. The Inclusion 2024 programme aims to increase and improve opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to engage and participate in physical education and school sport. It is built based on the growing concern that many disabled children continue to miss out or have negative experiences in PE. Findings from the My Active Future report, released by Activity Alliance in 2020, reinforced the activity gap between disabled and non-disabled children. Five steps to diabetes prevention: reduce your risk of type 2For this year's Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week (23-29 May) Diabetes UK shares five steps to prevention, which are designed to help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Currently 2.4 million people in England are at elevated risk of developing the disease. Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week raises awareness of the seriousness of the condition, the risk of developing it, and ways to help reduce the risk. Living with overweight or obesity increases your risk, but there are many other factors including age, ethnicity and family history that may have an impact. Research has consistently shown, adjusting daily routines – including diet, physical activity, and sustained weight loss – can reducing the risk by about 50%. Citbag goes live: Schools to benefit from new online platformA new online hub featuring hundreds of resources to help get children active is set to help teachers, coaches and leaders deliver the new Curriculum for Wales. Sport Wales has developed Citbag a home for teaching and coaching resources that have been created by specialists over the last 20 years. Citbag includes the renowned Dragon Sport and Play to Learn products aimed at primary school aged pupils. The resources on Citbag are aimed at children and young people to support motivation, confidence, physical competence and knowledge and understanding, which are central to physical literacy. From stories to get the youngest moving and active, fun games to help agility, balance, and co-ordination to sport specific learning through sports like rugby and cricket and more specialist gymnastics or creative movement for older children. 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