British Heart Foundation And The Football Association 'Team Up For Healthy Hearts', UK

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 30 Sep 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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The Football Association together with England Footballer, Michael Carrick, have teamed up with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) for World Heart Day 2007 with a common goal: to get the nation to up the tempo of their heart.

Together, they are strengthening the message of a dramatic new TV advert launched by the BHF this month encouraging people to be physically active, after statistics have revealed that only a third of Brits achieve the minimum recommended amount of exercise (1). And recent BHF research shows that someone dies every 15 minutes as a direct result of physical inactivity (2).

The heart charity's inspirational, uplifting TV advert is part of a wider campaign called 'The Beat'. It opens with a lone drummer picking up the beat of the city, and then shows other people taking part in a range of activities in time to their heartbeat.

Michael Carrick, representing the England football squad, teamed up in Manchester earlier this week with a local family to show how easy - and fun - it can be to get your heart beating. The active Davies family took part in a training session to mark World Heart Day 2007, to be celebrated around the world on Sunday 30 September with the theme 'Team Up for Healthy Hearts'.

Michael Carrick said, "The motto of this year's World Heart Day is "Team Up for Healthy Hearts". Being physically active is really important and as a footballer I know how beneficial exercise can be for your health. Kicking a ball around the park with friends or colleagues can be just as much fun as playing in an international! It's important to find something you enjoy - be it football, tennis, dancing or swimming."

Dr Mike Knapton, Director of Prevention and Care at the BHF, says: "BHF has teamed up with Michael Carrick through their relationship with The Football Association to show that although exercise is a daunting prospect for many, you'd be amazed how easy it is to make physical activity a part of your everyday life.

"The most important thing to remember is that if we up the tempo of our heartbeat for 30 minutes a day, we could reduce our risk of heart disease by half (3). If you enjoy sport then that's great, but even regular brisk walks will keep your heart healthy."

A recent BHF survey revealed that only 38% of Brits would be motivated to do more exercise if their life depended on it (4).

The minimum recommendation for good health is 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five times a week. But the BHF encourage people to do more than this by keeping active every day, and at a higher intensity where possible.

Visit http://www.bhf.org.uk/thebeat to get inspired and get active.

- The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the nation's heart charity, dedicated to saving lives through pioneering research, patient care, campaigning for change and by providing vital information. But we urgently need help. We rely on donations of time and money to continue our life-saving work. Because together we can beat heart disease.

-BHF is a lead Charity Partner of The Football Association.

-For more information on the BHF, visit http://www.bhf.org.uk.

-For more information on The Football Association Charity Programme, visit http://www.thefa.com/charities.

Top Heart Tips

1. Your heart beats an average 100,000 times a day - a staggering 36.5 million times a year. By the time you reach 75 it will have beat more than 2.7 billion times.

2. The average heart pumps out around 5 litres of blood every minute. Regular physical activity improves the strength of the heart which helps to keep it healthy.

3. On average, your heart is the size of your clenched fist and weighs about 300 grams.

4. Your system of blood vessels - arteries, veins and capillaries - is up to 60,000 miles long. That's long enough to go around the world more than twice.

References

(1) Coronary Heart Disease statistics 2007, British Heart Foundation, July 2007

(2) The burden of physical activity-related ill health in the UK, Allender S, Foster C, Scarborough P, Rayner, M. J Epidemiol Community Health 2007; 61: 344-8

(3) A meta-analysis of physical activity in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Berlin JA and Colditz G, (1990) American Journal of Epidemology, Vol. 132, No.4 pages 612-628).

(4) YouGov survey of 2,154 adults, August 2007
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,154 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 29th - 31st August 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

http://www.bhf.org.uk