Have we really done our best to increase the physical activity?

Statement: Have we really done our best to increase the physical activity of Finnish population?

The situation is familiar to many experienced hikers too: you decide to walk through a new hiking trail. The location of the route can be found in one service and additional information about toilets and campfire sites in another. The second service also has a link to the third service, which says that a certain section of the route is currently being renovated, so the route cannot be used as a ring route. However, you decide to go and hike the available portion of the trail back and forth. You arrive at the general starting point of the route, but you are not quite sure where exactly the route starts. You also won't find a parking space, although another site mentioned that the parking area is right next to the starting point of the route. The ingredients for frustration are there.

Information about different forms of exercise and places is still very fragmented.

It is a fact that we Finns move too little. Although there is a lot of talk about increasing physical activity, and it has been named as an important strategic goal even at the national level, the measures taken to achieve this can sometimes seem insufficient to the average citizen. Information about different forms of exercise and places is still very fragmented, if information can be found in the first place. This is not likely to lower the threshold to start exercising."The construction, development and maintenance of conditions for exercise and outdoor recreation are the basis of municipal sports activities", states the joint bulletin of municipalities' sports divisions, which was published on June 3, 2024. The joint statement has been signed by 48 officials responsible for sports services from different parts of Finland.The annual economic and investment expenditure of sports sectors of the Finnish municipalities announced in the bulletin is about one billion euros, but despite this, the population's immobility is increasing and leisure pursuits are polarizing. The release points out that one of the tasks of the municipalities is to make sports facilities accessible to everyone and serving different target groups equally.The question is: Have we really done everything we can in Finland to make physical activity and exercise easily accessible to as many people as possible?