Prevention

2.3 Policy

Effective policy interventions to increase physical activity must be comprehensive, tailored to address the myriad environments, demographic groups, and behavioural incentives that shape individuals’ choices. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, successful strategies require an understanding of the challenges faced across life stages and settings.

Both active transport and leisure time activity should be factored in, with sedentary behaviour becoming increasingly widespread and under-recognised as a risk factor for chronic disease.

Children and adolescents require targeted interventions, as habits developed early in life often persist into adulthood. Schools can serve as pivotal platforms by ensuring high-quality physical education, integrating active play into lessons, and offering after-school sports and active learning programmes. National policy frameworks must support these efforts by mandating that schools dedicate sufficient time to physical activity and by funding community youth programmes.

The health sector remains a trusted source of information and recommendations for physical activity. Some strategies for optimising the role of the health sector include empowering clinicians and health and care professionals with the skills and confidence to discuss and promote physical activity, integrating it into key clinical pathways and encouraging clinicians to role model healthy lifestyle behaviours by supporting staff to stay active (NHS England, 2024). Examples of how clinicians can facilitate their patients to engage with community offerings in the UK include the NHS social prescribing and group exercise programmes, and the Neighbourhood Hub model of delivery of preventive services.

Urban planning plays a critical role by creating environments that naturally encourage movement—walkable neighbourhoods, safe cycling infrastructure, and accessible parks and green spaces invite people of all ages to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines. Policy should also incentivise the development of mixed-use communities, where amenities and services are within walking or cycling distance, reducing reliance on cars and promoting incidental exercise.

To ensure effectiveness at scale, partnerships between public health agencies, private sector organisations, and civil society are essential. Collaborative campaigns can amplify the message of active living, using both social media and traditional broadcast platforms to reach varied audiences.