Active living
Active living is a way of life that includes physical activity as part of daily routines. Physical activity is anything that gets you moving, makes your breathing quicker and gets your heart beating faster.
Benefits of moving more and maintaining an active lifestyle
- Reduce the risk of illnesses and increase your chances of living longer.
- Help to maintain a healthy weight.
- Improve mental health and wellbeing.
- Assist with sleeping better.
- Create opportunities to socialise, meet people and have fun.
Benefits of being active every day for children and young people
- Provide ways to have fun.
- Improve self-esteem and confidence.
- Promote healthy growth and development.
- Develop strong muscles and bones.
- Reduce the risk of disease and unhealthy weight gain.
- Reduce anti-social behaviour.
Becoming more active
You can make small changes in your daily routine to be more active. Some examples include playing a sport, doing household chores, gardening, cycling or walking to school, work or the shops and taking the stairs instead of the lift or escalator. You can also try to reduce the amount of time you spend sitting for long periods by breaking it up with standing, at your desk or in meetings. For more ideas visit LiveLighter® (external site).
No matter what kind of activity you choose, try to make it a daily habit by choosing activities you enjoy and keeping things varied and gradually increasing the intensity or time you spend moving. If you’re lacking motivation, you can ask family and friends to help keep you on track.
You can calculate how much physical activity you need by using the LiveLighter® physical activity calculator (external site) or see the national physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines (external site).