1. Reducing sedentary behaviour

'Sedentary' means 'sitting down'. In our society, we spend a lot of time doing activities such as:

• Watching television
• Playing video games
• Sitting in front of a desk (e.g. at work)
• Reading
• Napping

Sitting for long periods of time burns very little calories and is a significant cause for weight gain. Aim to break up the amount of time you spend sitting down with some light activity:

• Don’t use the remote control, get up and turn the channel over using the TV set
• Don’t ask someone else to fetch something for you, go and get it yourself
• Stand up during the advert breaks, walk around the house a little and/or do some stretching exercises
• If you are at work and need to contact someone who works in another part of the office. Instead of emailing/phoning, walk over and speak to them face-to-face
• Learn to juggle, it’s a great form of light exercise and can be done whilst watching television, etc
• Do housework at a fast pace

2. Increasing activity

3. Organised Activity and Sports

Types of Exercise

Building activity into your daily life