Chairman of Sport England, Derek Mapp, has today called for a 'holistic, cross-governmental' approach to improving public health and tackling lifestyle diseases such as obesity.
Addressing the FIA Industry Summit, Mr Mapp said that with recent research suggesting that 60 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women would be obese by 2050, targets for levels of physical activity needed to be 'tougher and stronger'; warning that the 'obesity explosion' would otherwise happen sooner than expected.
Part of the legacy of the 2012 Olympics was to be the delivery of an extra 2 million people participating in physical activity, he said, and that this would only happen through greater collaboration and cooperation between the public and private sector.
Highlighting the role of local authorities in improving public health, Mr Mapp said that a key problem was the sustainability of funding for leisure and sport activities as local government was continuously under pressure to reduce costs. A potential solution to this would be the 'community sport hub' concept, which would see both private and public facilities on the same community site.
The model demonstrated that there could be a mixture of the two providers on the same site with common names and objectives, he asserted, and that it wasn't always necessary to be in competition.
It was also important to introduce a 'fun factor' to sporting activities available in the community, Mr Mapp said, as individuals were not merely 'customers' but were also 'participants'. He said that the majority of individuals wanted to take part in physical activity that was exciting and engaging, and that it was up to both private and public bodies to provide the public with these kinds of activities.
Moving on to the role of the central Government, Mr Mapp argued that a 'holistic, cross Government' approach was needed, but that the Government was notorious for being funded and managed in silos where funding was closely guarded by permanent secretaries who viewed loss of control over the Departmental budget as a weakness. However, he added, there had never been a greater appetite for improving public health as there was now.
Furthermore, Mr Mapp said that he would like to see the commercial sector working together with the Government to develop common aims and to work together in a way in which both could achieve their objectives.
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