Regular exercise key to good health – Minister

Mrs Julian Azumah-Mensah, Minister of Women and Children Affairs, on Saturday said regular exercise was an effective mechanism to ensure good health since it reduces diseases like cancer, heart attack and obesity.

She said more than one-third of African women and a quarter of African men are estimated to be overweight and predicted a rise to 41 per cent and 30 per cent in 2016.

Mrs Azumah-Mensah said this at the launch of Keep Africa Fit Campaign organised by Eryca Freemantle, a Makeup Artist to create awareness about the importance of regular exercise in Accra.

The Minister lauded the initiative adding that it would improve the lives of many since the campaign would offer fitness programs linked to diseases prevention and other training programs for individuals to become fitness instructors with international accreditation.

Mrs Azumah-Mensah said the program would also create jobs, first class training, knowledge, confidence and long life which falls directly in line with what the Ministry stand for.

She said obesity was a silent killer in work place, homes and life in general which joins the ranks of breast cancer, prostate cancer, malnutrition, malaria, hypertension and diabetes.

Mrs Eryca Freemantle said Keep Africa Fit was a Pan-African project aimed at encouraging people to get fit by way of regular exercise to live a healthy life.

She said regular exercise can help reduce body fat in that the higher proportion of fat in the body, the more likely you are infected with some diseases, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, therefore exercise helps to eliminate the dangers of fat from your body.

Mrs Freemantle stressed that exercise such as aerobics can keep the heart and make blood vessels more powerful and  help you maintain heart health. “With regular exercise, you will get tremendous benefits, such as skin color and sweaty skin will look better.”

She said a good way to overcome depression and mood swings is to exercise regularly adding that many people who start a regular exercise program for weight loss or healthy body realize additional benefits improving fitness in their minds and improve life’s atmosphere.

Source: GNA