Physical Inactivity (Public Health)

Caroline Nokes Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2014 Westminster Hall

[Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Weir. I congratulate the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) on securing this important debate. I feel somewhat daunted to be following the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley), who is something of an expert on women’s sport and fitness. That was to be the focus of much of my speech, but there are a couple of other areas that I would like to discuss.

We have heard at length this morning about the problems associated with a lack of physical activity, and I wanted to focus briefly on some of the positives. Perhaps I come from a fortunate position and constituency, because Test Valley, in the south-east of England, is the eighth most active borough in the country. I spent 10 years of my life as the leisure portfolio holder on the local council, so I should know a little bit about what we did to encourage such activity, to ensure that there were pathways from school sports into clubs and to try to retain the crucial group of 14 to 18-year-old girls, where there is the most stark drop-off in levels of physical activity.

Test Valley borough council has long had a determined commitment to ensuring that sports clubs are supported, encouraged and celebrated. The weekend before last, I was lucky enough to go to the inaugural Romsey and District sports awards—a fantastic, uplifting event at which there was absolutely no shame about celebrating elite sport and the successes of those who have achieved a phenomenal amount, either as individuals or as part of teams and clubs. But there were also categories for veterans, a critical group that is being encouraged to stay in sport longer and be active later in life. There were also categories for coaches and volunteers. The volunteers were perhaps the most inspiring group, as they are giving up thousands of hours every year to ensure that clubs can keep going.

In my area, we are lucky to have a wide range of clubs. Every year there is a sports fair at Romsey sports centre, where the pathways from school sport into clubs are promoted and made accessible and inviting. One of the biggest barriers to physical participation is cultural. I always use the example of a golf club where, after walking in through the door, people are almost inevitably told that they are wearing the wrong things. The same is true of many gyms, where it is imperative to be wearing the right kit. Wherever people go, there are mirrors on every wall. People who feel somewhat nervous or anxious about making that first step—I firmly believe that the first step is the most important—can sometimes be put off instantly on arrival.

I have long said that the hardest thing when it comes to keeping girls and women in sport is that wonderful substance Lycra. Everyone in the gym will be wearing it, yet those who feel slightly self-conscious about their appearance, or those who might be overweight, may look in the mirror at themselves clad in Lycra and decide that the gym is not for them and that they are never coming back.

It is critical that we have welcoming environments that are accessible in terms of both cost and the physical structure of the buildings. It is also imperative that we have a welcoming, enthusiastic and encouraging culture among instructors. I declare an interest as a parliamentary ambassador for the YMCA, which has led the way on physical activity and sport over the past 150-plus years. It is very seldom that people will go into a gym in this country and find instructors who have not been taught by the YMCA how to make the environment welcoming and successful and how to enthuse people to achieve what they can.

As chairman of the all-party group on body image, I have focused on some of the cultural barriers to participation, but I will say a few words about why it is important to encourage and not to “fat shame,” a hideous term. I was interested to hear the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South refer to “Fatty Must Run”, about which I have some reservations because the first step is the hardest. In a nation of people who are not taking part in enough sport and exercise, we have to encourage that first step. We have to make it culturally acceptable and the norm for people to take part, and we have to give them a pat on the back when they start taking part in sport.

The fat-shaming that we see from celebrities such as Katie Hopkins does the wrong thing, and we have to try to encourage everyone, whatever their size or shape, to take part in sport. It is true that people can be healthy at any size and inactivity is a danger for its own sake, so, whatever their body shape, I encourage people to participate.

I conclude by picking up the point about the participation of girls and women. Fifty per cent. of girls are put off sport in secondary school, and that feeling can continue for the rest of their lives. My hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson) referred to jumpers being used as goalposts, which is an important point. It is easy for boys to take part in football because all they need is four jumpers and a ball. Traditional women’s sports require a great deal more equipment, and it is therefore harder for girls to carry on in sport once they leave school.

Many other hon. Members wish to contribute to this debate, so I will finish with one parting shot to the Minister: the Olympic legacy is critical. A feel-good factor is not enough; we want genuine well-being as our Olympic legacy.

[Several hon. Members]

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