[Food stall in Rome food market]
[Strawberry punnets]
[Lettuces on market stall]
[Customer being served at market stall]
[Green and red vegetables]
[Man serving almonds]
[Bottles of olive oil]
[People doing a tasting of olive oils]
[Women seated by market dipping bread into olive oil to eat]
Stephen Whiting (interview): “There’s data that shows that physical inactivity, overweight and obesity were a huge risk factor for severe COVID outcomes and long COVID. So this is a really opportune time to actually invest in prevention for whether it’s future emergencies, future pandemics, climate change related heat events and emergencies, promoting physical activity and healthy diets to all population groups as well as older adults is a is a win win, and it’s a cost effective intervention.”
[Ikaria’s island shoreline and mountains]
[Elderly and retired residents sitting in town square playing games]
[Elderly man walking down a steep path with his walking frame]
Stephen Whiting (interview): “We published a report in collaboration with the OECD earlier this year on the cost of physical inactivity on health systems in the European Union, and we estimated that €8 billion per year could be saved if more people were physically active and meeting the WHO recommended levels of physical activity. So this is an example of some of the health care costs that could be saved by investing in physical activity and healthy lifestyles.”
[A group of middle aged and elderly people gathering in a green space around town to warm up for a hiking exercise]
[Hiking through woodland]
[Children in local school playground doing exercise with teachers to music]
Stephen Whiting (interview): “So these community based programs are really important, not just for the physical health, but also mental health, social integration, staying connected with communities. And there’s many there’s many programs around Europe that are good examples of this and we’re working with countries and experts to try to scale these out, identify what works and the success stories and scale them out to other countries.”
[The Helsinki Christmas Market at the Senate Square; Helsinki Cathedral in the background]
[Entrance to sauna corner of the square]
[Walking through the market]
[Woman smelling product at a product stand in market]
Stephen Whiting (interview): “In Finland. They have a very multisectoral approach and long, long term investment in physical activity, in developing the infrastructure, cycling and walking paths, ensuring access to two local parks, sports for all programs, so older adults have opportunities to participate in physical activity programs.”
[A group of people walking through woodland as part of a regular organised exercise activity]
Stephen Whiting (interview): “90% of deaths in the WHO European region are caused by non-communicable diseases. At the same time, around 85% of years lived with disability are caused by non-communicable diseases. The main risk factors for non-communicable diseases are physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, tobacco use, alcohol consumption. So if we can support countries to promote these healthier behaviours and reduce the years lived with disability due to non-communicable diseases, we can have a huge impact on the healthy life expectancy. So people’s later years are ones defined by being able to move around and less costs to health care systems in societies.”
[Tray of burgers being carried away]
[Steel food containers filled with leafy vegetables, fruits and healthy food]
[Plates of healthy foods]
Stephen Whiting (interview): “To promote healthy diets, it’s about reformulating foods, reducing the salt content of foods, eliminating trans fats, sugar consumption. Also, communication and public awareness campaigns specific to older adults could be beneficial, but also developing age friendly environments through urban design and planning so that older adults are able to move around in their neighbourhoods and reach local destinations like stores.”
[Urban store selling fresh vegetables and fruits]
[Berries]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.