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Public Health Messages

Smoking

Stoptober 2024

There are many great ways to help you to quit smoking, without being too hard on yourself – physical activity is one of them.

Exercise – whether it’s a light walk, cycling, dancing, or a gym session – can be a powerful tool to help you quit smoking, as it can help alleviate both the physical and the psychological elements of addiction.

Withdrawal symptoms and cravings for cigarettes decrease during exercise and up to 50 minutes after exercising. Exercise also decreases appetite and helps limit the weight gain some people have when they quit smoking.

The 28 Day Stop Smoking Challenge

In today’s modern world, there are many great innovations that can help you to quit smoking. Below are a list of helpful resources and support links to support you.

Senior Adult Exercise Fitness Strength

Health Matters: getting every adult active every day

All adults should aim to be active daily. Muscle strengthening activity, such as exercising with weights, yoga or carrying heavy shopping is recommended at least two days a week. This can help lower the risk of sarcopenia, or loss of muscle mass, which is associated with ageing but also occurs in response to immobility at any age. Individuals at risk of falls should also look to do balance exercises twice a week.

As well as being physically active, all adults are advised to minimise the time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods. Even among individuals who are active at the recommended levels, spending large amounts of time sedentary increases the risk of adverse health outcomes.

Reduce sedentary time

Many adults spend in excess of 7 hours per day sedentary, and this typically increases with age.

Everyone should be encouraged to reduce the amount of sedentary time by:

  • reducing time spent watching TV, using a computer or playing video games
  • taking regular time not sitting during work
  • breaking up sedentary time, such as swapping a long bus or car journey for walking part of the way

Being active does not just bring physical benefits; evidence shows that we feel more confident and positive during and after activity, we can sleep better and are less likely to suffer with anxiety and depression.

One You Kent

One You Kent offers fantastic local support to help you achieve a healthier lifestyle. You will find a range of credible support sources to help you make positive lifestyle choices and understand the health benefits of becoming healthier, both physically and mentally.

One You aim to encourage adults to take control of their health to enjoy significant benefits now, and in later life. They provide a comprehensive selection of health and fitness information as well as the opportunity to book a session with a One You adviser for help in setting achievable health goals. This includes information regarding stop smoking and alcohol support, healthy weight advice as well as advice on a range of lifestyle issues.

We know that it’s the small changes that can make a huge difference to your health so why not start today by taking the One You quiz?

This Girl Can

This Girl Can is an inspiring national campaign developed by Sport England and partnership organisations. The campaign has been talked about all over the world, receiving 156,599 views on You-tube to date and over 90k followers on Twitter.

This Girl Can is a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets.

There are often many triggers and barriers during a woman’s lifespan that can strongly influence motivation, access and attitude towards physical activity. This Girl Can really does strive to change attitudes, support and inspire women. Nationally, there is a drive to increase activity participation, with current statistics from Sport England showing that 40.8% of men play sport at least once a week compared with 31% of women (Sport England). Recent research also indicated that among 14-year olds, 31% of girls exercised regularly compared with 50% of boys. The research found that most girls would like to do more physical activity but were not confident about their sporting ability.

Walk 4 Wellbeing

Walking is a gentle, low-impact exercise that’s free and simple and available to everyone no matter what your level of fitness is.

Walking is a fantastic form of exercise for people of all ages and fitness levels who want to become more active. The easiest way to walk more is to make walking part of your lifestyle and include walking into your daily routine. For example; walking to the shops or going for a stroll with family or friends.

All you need is a good, comfy pair of supportive shoes/trainers and loose-fitting clothing that allows you to move more freely.

Did You Know? Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council organise free, volunteer led Health Walks as an enjoyable way to meet new people and improve health. For more information please visit TMBC Health Walks.

Why Move More?

There are so many reasons to be more active. Moving more is good for your body, your mind, helps to prevent serious health problems and it can help you sleep better too.

As well as lowering your risk of developing serious health problems, being active helps keep your heart healthy, keeps your muscles, bones and joints strong and can help improve your balance.

Research shows that physical activity can also boost self-esteem, mood and energy, as well as helping to prevent symptoms and reducing your risk of stress, depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Moving more helps to slow the natural breakdown of your bones and muscles, and helps you maintain a healthy weight and good circulation. It also helps maintain your brain.

Did you know that regular exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes by up to 35% and getting type 2 diabetes by up to 40%; daily exercise can reduce the risk of developing depression or dementia by up to 30%.

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