Media

Making a Difference: "INTERACTIVE" Medical Students

27 Nov 2011

 

According to WHO, up to 31% of the population over the age of 15 are physically inactive (men 28% and women 34%) and 3.2 million deaths (mortality) each year are due to sedentary behaviour. ‘Exercise is on your hand' , a message that is simple, yet unaddressed; a notion that everybody understands yet do not bother to comply to.

'InterACTIVE'-a health campaign organized by a group of 30 medical students is an extraordinary health promotion that employs the notion-"FLASH MOB" ,a spontaneous street performance which engages passer-by to be involved in the act. Here, a group of medical students is incorporating this concept into health promotion.

This group of medical students achieved an eye-catching performance in Causeway Bay yesterday. The performance began as the lead dancer transformed herself by revealing the Medical Faculty T-shirt underneath and started stretching. Dancing along with the music, other medical students joined in this fashion and started the mass dance. Meanwhile, spectators also joined in the stretching exercise. The "Flash Mob" ended with a live health exhibition featuring a "Freeze Mob" during which performers freezed while holding speech bubbles with promotional health messages. At the same time, some medical students interviewed passersby and promoted the significance of physical activity in relation to ones health.

"Be ACTIVE and LIVE" was the message behind, stressing on the importance of exercise. A survey done by the Department of Health states that only 35.7% of the interviewee (Total: 2013) is able to meet the WHO recommendations of physical activities. This alarming figure suggests that Hong Kong citizens have yet to put more attention to the importance of physical activity. Archives of Internal Medicine, from the American Medical Association, indicates that engaging in physical activity for at least 3 hours per week is associated with a decrease in mortality risk of 27%. Other researchers have also found that for heart attack patients who participated in a formal exercise program, the death rate is reduced by 20% to 25% (American Heart Association).This is due to the well-established and proven fact that exercise is of utmost importance in preventing numerous chronic disease,like coronary heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Exercise is simple but what is difficult is to do it as a habit. It only takes 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days per week to improve and maintain your health. You can always lead a physically active life by climbing upstairs instead of taking a lift and make walking as your habit.

Apart from health promotion of physical activity at a local community level, they also launch a series of online campaigns through websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube hoping to reach out to a specific target group of Internet users who are most at risk of developing sedentary behaviour.

The campaign is not over yet! There will be one more performance on 27/11 (Sun) at 1 Sai Yeung Choi Street South in between Dundas Street and Soy Street, outside CTMA centre (Near california fitness).Do come and don't miss the chance of a lifetime!

Now, it is the time for the Hong Kong public to address the issue of inactivity and get motivated!

For any enquiry, please contact Arthur Lo (9531 4237) or Rose Au (6767 1711) - Year 3 medical students from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.