AD VELOCIPEDES!                                            Richard J B Willis

BUC Health Ministries Director

Have you noticed that the Church is getting larger?  Not numerically, although that is true.  I was thinking, well, fatter.  Dante, in his Divine Comedy was a bit less than sensitive when he said, ‘But now the modern pastors are so plump / that they have need of one to prop them up / on this side, one on that, and one in front …’!

With spring in the air what better time to think of exercise.  No doubt many excuses can be found to hold us back.  When the velocipede and then the bicycle became popular the medical press and other news media anticipated the direst of consequences: kyphosis bicyclistarum (cyclist’s spine or cyclist’s stoop), bicycle hernia, bicycle heart, and cyclist’s sore throat, to name a few.

The doctors of the day were concerned that bicycle face – the strained set look and incessant tension acquired by keeping one’s eye on the road – and cyclist’s neurosis would set in (they might of course have been confusing cycle paths with psychopaths!).  Now cycling is a recognised remedy or preventive for all the things the medical profession feared.

A Report by most of our medical Royal Colleges is pressing the government to have a national strategy to deal with the problem of obesity.  Ideas range from taxing high fat foods to getting more exercise.  Professor Sian Griffiths, of the Faculty of Public Health, says: ‘This increasingly sedentary lifestyle is habitual, but it also has to do with our environment.  For example, some parents do not believe it is safe to let their children play outside so instead they are watching television.  Part of the solution, which requires partnership at all levels, could be, to introduce things like safe play zones or set bicycle routes.’

Naturally, we have to find an energy outlet that meets our personal requirements and situation.  Currently less than two thirds of men and women meet the physical activity recommendations set by the Department of Health.  There are more gyms and personal trainers around today than ever there were if people are afraid to exercise in the open.  The book shelves are positively groaning under the weight of keep fit books, and magazines are devoted to specific exercise regimes.  So there is little excuse for inactivity.  Since many of the programmes can be done at home they can also be slotted conveniently into one’s busy schedule and so lower our health risks.

Diabetes for example now accounts for around 9% of the annual NHS budget costing around £5.2 Bn per year (£165 a second!).  Much of the type 2 diabetes could be reduced with exercise as well as dietary measures.  Heart disease and hypertension could all be reduced by having a good exercise programme.

What with swimming, tennis and badminton, and all the above named opportunities for exercise, we have never had it so good.  It is down to our personal motivation and preferences (thousands are taking up rugby football since the England win last year).  All I can say to encourage you is ad velocipedes (on your bike!).