Il International Olympic Committee (CIO) today announced a new global initiative to promote the importance of moving every day. Conceived in collaboration with theWorld Health Organization (WHO), the initiative Let’s Move it will involve several Olympic athletes and will kick off on 23 June, on Olympic Day, with an invitation to carve out time every day for some healthy movement.
According to one study, one in four adults and more than 80% of young people do not engage in the minimum recommended physical activity for optimal health (WHO, 2022). Lack of time is one of the most common reasons for not achieving this goal. However, 30 minutes of movement a day is enough to obtain benefits on a physical, cardiac and mental level. Regular physical activity helps reduce the risk or severity of certain diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, strokes and some types of cancer. It also helps prevent high blood pressure and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression. For the youngest, movement is functional to good growth and a healthier adult life.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Olympic Day is the perfect occasion to celebrate the mission of the Olympic Movement, which is to make the world a better place through sport. Sport strengthens body and mind and improves health. It stimulates us to give our best and to dream big, spreads joy and brings people together. This year we have decided, together with the WHO, to emphasize the benefits that sport brings to physical and mental health, in the desire to inspire the world to move more every day. Sport and physical activity are an economic and effective tool for achieving physical and mental well-being and creating resilient communities”.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: «The Olympic Movement has the great merit of being able to leverage the benefits of physical activity to improve public health through sport. Olympic athletes are not just sports champions, they are role models who communicate the joy of sport and demonstrate the benefits of physical activity. The Let’s Move initiative, in collaboration with WHO, relies on the charisma of Olympic athletes and WHO’s advice on physical activity to promote healthy movement habits.
Several past and future host cities will also participate in the campaign with themed initiatives targeting their local communities. During the last 12 months, Paris 2024 (in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education and Youth and the Ministry of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games of the French government) has already integrated 30 minutes of physical activity into the school timetable, recognizing the multiple beneficial effects of daily practice on physical and mental health. Around the world, more than 131 digital campaigns and expanded events, organized by the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and coordinated by the Olympic Movement, will be held to give everyone the opportunity to move together on Olympic Day.
The initiative Let’s Move puts the spotlight on the benefits of regular physical activity and contributese to the Olympism365 project of the IOC, which includes among its main objectives that of facilitating access to sport so that communities around the world can enjoy the physical and social benefits associated with sport.
The event Let’s Move of Olympic Day is the first in a series of initiatives by the IOC that aim to promote physical activity around the world. Furthermore, it directly contributes to “Sport, Health and Active Communities”, one of the priority areas of Olympism365, which focuses on the importance of ensuring equal opportunities for people from all walks of life to access the physical and mental benefits of sport and activity physics.