Promoting the health benefits of sport
Sport is a powerful force for good, beneficial for individuals and society as a whole. However in France almost 40% of the population deny themselves these benefits, with one in two adults saying they do not do physical activity of any kind. This increasingly sedentary lifestyle is also common among teenagers in France, who ranked 119th out of 146 countries in a study the WHO conducted into sport and physical activity (2019). Moreover, 40% of young children spend more than three hours a day sitting in front of a screen.
Sport: A driving force for life
Sedentary lifestyles impact every section of the population and the entire country. The least active group are young girls and people facing specific obstacles, such as those with disabilities. That is why Paris 2024 has made it a priority to develop and revive an appetite for sport and the means to get involved in it in France to show people it is possible and beneficial to make sport a part of everyday life, and to support those working every day to promote it.
Nowadays, we need a widespread movement to bring sport into our cities and our daily lives. This is why a collective effort is crucial to helping us raise awareness that regular physical activity is both good for you and easy to adopt.
Paris 2024 represents a unique opportunity to get everyone in France moving. We have to create a collective sense of awareness. We must then build connections between the people who, together, can bring about real change: athletes, teachers, coaches, doctors, HR managers, urban planners, etc.
National Observatory for Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviours
Paris 2024 is working alongside the Pour une France en forme (For a healthy France) organisation.
Programmes in place to get everyone moving more
A single target for people of all ages: 30 minutes of exercise every day!
Moving more at school
As well as the health benefits it provides, sport is an incredible educational and social tool. It holds a principal place in children’s daily lives because it lets them develop their self-confidence and build core values that are useful throughout their lives, such as respect, team spirit, fairness, high standards and perseverance.
Developed in partnership with the French Ministry of National Education and co-financed by the French National Sports Agency, the “30 minutes of exercise every day” initiative started as a trial promoted by Paris 2024. It has since brought about a new era in schools and has been expanded since the start of the 2022 school year by the French Ministry of National Education. The programme not only helps ensure children get half of their recommended daily physical activity, but also improves concentration and mood in the classroom.
Moving more in urban areas
People are now able to move more in urban areas thanks to active design, a concept inspired by international success stories that was later popularised and rolled out in France by Paris 2024. Active design incorporates movement and play into the way we think about and design our everyday living spaces, including public spaces and buildings, to encourage sport and spontaneous physical activity for everyone.
As part of a partnership with the “Action Cœur de Ville” programme run by the French National Agency for the Cohesion of Territories (ANCT), six pilot cities are being made into examples of active design in France. More broadly, the concept is being rolled out in Terre de Jeux 2024 communities through an active design guide as well as support from the French National Sports Agency and our partner companies.
Moving more at work
Though active design is aimed at public spaces, it is also being applied in offices, with a tailor-made guide available to Paris 2024 partner companies. The aim is to help these companies lay out their offices in such a way as to combat sedentary behaviour at work. Since summer 2022, more than 100,000 employees of Paris 2024 partner companies have taken up the 30 minutes of exercise every day challenge!
Moving more at work is a priority for employees and companies alike, given that sport and exercise has a positive impact on both workplace quality of life and personal well-being. Team spirit, pride in belonging to a group, fewer accidents and less stress - these are just some of the advantages that have led Paris 2024, in conjunction with Solideo, to put on warm-up sessions, sports initiatives and opportunities to meet athletes for those working in the Athletes’ Village and the Media Village.
Paris 2024 has also joined forces with the MEDEF employer federation to develop an “Annual Sport at Work Barometer” to identify the obstacles, driving forces and best practices for a healthy and active workplace, particularly within SMEs.
