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Active Living describes a way of
living actively - your way, every day. It means adding
physical activity to your daily life with the goal of making
healthier lifestyle choices. Active Living promotes
participation and community involvement. It involves people working
together to ensure that the environments where we live, work,
learn and play support regular physical activity.
You can do it! As referenced by
Canada's
Physical Activity Guides, accumulating at least 30 minutes of
moderate activity or 60 minutes of light activity everyday can improve
health. This
activity doesn't have to be hard - you can even add it up in
ten minute time blocks during the day. Try to find a
more active way to do every day tasks. Mix things up by
focusing on strength, flexibility, and endurance
activities. Basketball! Gardening! Dancing! Walking!
Incorporate your favourite activities into an active lifestyle
and start to experience the rewards.
Some of the recognized benefits of Active Living include:
- Longer life
- Improved overall health and well-being, critical
to personal quality of life
- Reduced stress
- Reduced health care costs through lower incidence
and severity of illness and/or disability
- Greater independence for older adults in activities
of daily living
- Enhanced community spirit and vitality
Despite these benefits, the majority of Canadians are not
active enough to optimally benefit their health. Governments
and organizations around the world recognize the importance of
a healthy lifestyle in preventing chronic disease and reducing
health care costs. The promotion of physical activity is
increasingly viewed as an action that is both fiscally and
socially responsible.
 The
Active Living Program provides leadership with
all levels of organizations, communities and government to
promote participation in healthy physical activity. Through collaborative planning, partnership
development, support of education programs and financial assistance,
Active Living initiatives are implemented to create social and physical environments
that support healthier lifestyle choices for individuals,
families, organizations and communities throughout Alberta.
These priorities directly contribute to enhancing the quality
of life, self-reliance and health of Albertans.
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