“Building a sporting nation”.
At the end of 2023, with the announcement of the Great National Cause 2024 around physical and sporting activity in France, the government had great ambitions.
In particular, he wanted to take advantage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games “to encourage the French to adopt less sedentary lifestyles”.
Read alsoParis 2024 Olympic Games: physical activity “great national cause” to leave a legacy after the Games
At the end of January, a first “30 minute barometer”, carried out by OpinionWay for the CIC, showed that the WHO recommendations, namely 30 minutes of daily physical activity, were far from being followed.
50% of French people claimed to practice less than 30 minutes of physical activity per day, while only 12% of the population engaged in daily sporting activity.
Worrying figures according to Martine Duclos, president of the National Observatory of Physical Activity and Sedentary Life, who then recalled the recommendations.
“To be clear, the ideal would be 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, or 75 to 100 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, or a mixture of both.
In addition to that, you have to do muscle strengthening twice a week.
When you are over 65, you need to add balance exercises to avoid falls.
And when you're a child or teenager, it's an hour a day.
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45% of French people move less than 30 minutes per day
This Thursday, February 29, the second “30-minute barometer” was released, and it is hardly reassuring.
According to this survey, only 56% of French people practice a sporting activity at least once a week, a figure down by three points.
We also notice an increase in time spent in transport rather than walking (46% compared to 43% in January).
Finally, the Great National Cause is struggling to make itself known.
Only 19% of the population knows that this concerns the field of sport, compared to 22% a month ago.
Conversely, certain data encourage optimism.
The intensity of sporting activity has notably increased.
45% of French people believe they do sport intensely, a number up four points.
Physical activity is also increasing.
While in January 50% of the population moved less than 30 minutes per day, this figure increased to 45%.
The French also recognize more that their physical activity is too restricted.
Only 46% believe it is sufficient (48% in January).
The effects of the Great National Cause, however, are not immediately obvious.
On January 5, Emmanuel Macron himself published a video calling on the population to move more regularly.
“I invite you all to do at least 30 minutes of sport a day, more if you can, but at least 30 minutes a day because it is good for your health and for many things,” he declared, with a French team t-shirt and boxing gloves on my shoulder.
It is also a way of having Games that will remain in our everyday practices.
» Five months before these Olympics, the legacy still seems vague.