The move to flexible and home-working has been vastly accelerated by the pandemic. Whereas in many cases this has increased the quality of life with less commute time, less poluting emmissions and greater family time, it has also reduced people’s ‘movement’. More often than not the physical act of going to work was the only daily exercise taken, providing both mental and physical stimulation.
Getting up, trundling down the stairs, making the occasional cup of tea and spending the day at home in front of a screen is not going to promote the healthy nation we need to become in order to keep this virus (and other’s down the line) at bay.
Those not working are still being told to stay home and this is creating a sedentary culture.
An unfit popluation is less productive, creates drains on healthcare and will have significantly greater problems with mental health. If we don’t address this shift in lifestyle we are creating a long term problem which will be more damaging than any pandemic.
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