Ireland's first ever National Physical Activity Plan has been launched by the Government. It aims to get an extra 50,000 people taking regular exercise every year for the next 10 years.

The plan was launched by four Government ministers, including the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donoghue. According to them, while the emphasis of the plan is on fun and enjoyment, ‘the goal couldn't be more serious'.

Research shows that seven out of 10 adults in Ireland do not get enough exercise and this can have major consequences for their health and quality of life, including increasing the risk of conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Furthermore, just 19% of primary school students and 12% of secondary school students exercise enough each week, and one in four children in Ireland is unfit, overweight or obese.

The key aim of the plan is to increase the number of people undertaking regular exercise by 1% over 10 years - that is around 50,000 people per year or a half a million in total.

Other key features of the plan include:
-A new annual campaign to encourage people to get more active, more often
-Further training for healthcare professionals on how to use physical activity to prevent or treat chronic conditions
-Support for 500 new community walking groups
-Extension of the Active School Flag Programme to another 500 schools
-A new push to get employers to encourage healthy workplace initiatives, such as exercise activities and standing desks
-New guidelines to be developed on sedentary behaviours, including warnings about the dangers
-The promotion of healthy lifestyles in primary and secondary schools, with PE being used as an educational tool, particularly at primary level.

Commenting on the new plan, Minister Varadkar said that while people have to take personal responsibility for their health, ‘the Government also has a role to play'.

"That's where Healthy Ireland (HI) comes in - the cross-Government, cross-sector programme to improve our health. We are already taking actions in a number of areas such as smoking, alcohol, sexual health and sunbed use. Now this National Physical Activity Plan sets an ambitious target to get half a million people more active within 10 years. I'm very confident we can reach this goal," he said.

Also commenting on the plan, Minister Donoghue emphasised that this is about taking ‘simple steps' to increase activity levels, especially among people who currently undertake no exercise.

"The plan aims to increase participation levels across all of the population, but we recognise that specific targeted initiatives may be required to increase participation levels and to narrow the gap across some groups," he noted.

At least €5.5 million has been ring fenced to implement this plan in 2016.

According to current guidelines, adults should be getting at least 30 minutes of moderate activity five days a week - or 150 minutes per week - while children should be active at a moderate to vigorous level for at least 60 minutes every day.