Ten Thousand Steps For Health: A Regional Project For The Promotion Of Physical Activity

A sedentary lifestyle is globally recognised as one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and today’s society, along with its behaviour, tends to favour it. To spread awareness about this, the World Health Organization has set the minimum level of physical activity an individual should undertake in order to significantly reduce the risk of developing such diseases. Considering walking for its ease and reproducibility, the exercise threshold is represented by the number of steps a person should take on average in a day and is identified to be ten thousand steps. The aim of our project is to tackle sedentary behaviour by encouraging physical activity and promoting a correct lifestyle for the citizens of Friuli Venezia-Giulia. The lack of the public spaces in which to practice physical activity safely is one of the main factors that discourages people from exercising. As such, with the promotion and implementation by Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia and Federsanità ANCI FVG alongside with the collaboration of Direzione Centrale Salute and PromoTurismo FVG, several walking routes within the regional territory have been redeveloped and improved by the addition of plentiful signage. In order to better reach out to the various communities about this project, an advertising campaign about the routes themselves and the importance of the exercise was started on a variety of websites as well as the most popular social media platforms. Furthermore, walking groups from different municipalities interested in the project have been directly involved and training courses have been set up in conjunction with volunteer doctors and professionals with a degree in Physical Education to inform people about specific muscle exercises that will target the general well-being. As a result of our project, fifty-nine routes have been created in all Friuli Venezia-Giulia, all of which contain historical, social and cultural value, and will give people the opportunity to exercise in an easy and safe way that will ultimately reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, a statistical analysis conducted by the Department of Economic and Statistical Sciences of University of Udine on media coverage and use of the routes, showed that the project has reached a great percentage of the population and is used by many people. Positive results have so far been produced in Friuli Venezia-Giulia and such a project has not only attracted the attention of other Italian Regions, but has also interested other European Countries. Our next goal is to readapt “Ten thousand steps for Health” so it can be applied in other environments.