Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Efforts to get more people in Fife exercising

Nordic walking has been identified as one sport which might attract younger women.
Nordic walking has been identified as one sport which might attract younger women.

More needs to be done to break down barriers preventing older adults and young women in Fife from doing physical activity, a report has suggested.

Fife councillors have now formally endorsed recommendations made by the region’s Physical Activity and Sport Policy Advisory Group (PASPAG), which aims to encourage greater levels of participation in sport across the board, in light of startling new figures.

Its research revealed that only 42% of older adults in Fife did at least 30 minutes of physical activity on at least five days a week, while only 51% of girls aged 13 to 15 met national guidelines of 60 minutes a day – including school based activity – compared to 68% of boys.

Further work will now be carried out by the PASPAG to identify particular reasons why both age groups are not partaking in physical activity, while a “targeted approach” in encouraging teenage girls to take up sport will now be adopted.

That could include an audit of uniform policies and changing facilities throughout Fife, which are often identified as specific barriers to young girls and women, although Fife’s executive committee heard this week that any changes would have to be done within existing resources.

The main thrust of the report was backed by committee members, and Councillor Mark Hood, who chairs the Fife Sports Partnership, welcomed moves to address provision.

“I guess what we’ve got to continue to bear in mind is that for every £1 we invest we see a £3 saving in healthcare, so if we’re to develop a sustainable health care system in Fife then we need to continue to invest,” he noted.

“There are a whole lot of things being done across Fife that maybe don’t get the profile we want them to get, but I welcome this paper and it’s all part of a process.”

Somewhat strangely for Fife, the report also recommended that a Nordic walking initiative should be developed further, following consultation with teenage girls and young women ahead of the report’s publication.

But Mr Hood added: “For me there is a different mindset with regard to teenage girls and the social element is crucial.

“The idea of Nordic walking is great and they can still have a chat with their pals when they are out walking with them.”

Cupar councillor Karen Marjoram highlighted just one reason as to why young women tend not to pursue certain types of physical activity.

“I know my daughter would not entertain going out for a run because of her safety,” she noted.

“It’s about getting people out and doing exercise, breaking down the barriers, and removing that fear.

“A lot of women think about exercise in a controlled environment, so I really welcome this work being done.”

In relation to older adults, plans to roll out the Otago training programme – which is an exercise programme aimed at reducing falls in frailer older people – will be supported by an extra £10,000 from the council’s revenue budget.