Perhaps you have already noticed it in your town, at your workplace, on vacation or in the media: this year, the government has decided to make us move 30 minutes a day, multiplying as part of the Great National Cause 2024 events, campaigns and initiatives to make us finally get up from our chairs. A noble ambition which, far from being confined to the political project of “building a sporting nation” by riding the Olympic wave, responds to an alarming health situation. A simple glance at the figures is enough to realize the scale of the disaster: 95% of French adults have an overly sedentary lifestyle and see their risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes increasing. arrow.
With an average of 12 hours in a sitting position per working day and 3 hours daily in front of a screen outside of any professional activity, the Homo sapiens of 2024 over-stimulate their brain and forget to flex their muscles. For their part, 50% of adolescents spend more than 4.5 hours in front of a screen – and their health capital is reduced dramatically (-25% in 40 years). And if we can argue that the development of teleworking and overexposure to screens is a global phenomenon, we will keep in mind that in 2020 France ranked 119 out of 146 in the WHO ranking on the practice of physical and sporting activity among 11-17 year olds…
PARIS 2024, accelerator of social progress
« No one should ignore that a sedentary lifestyle is a health time bomb, explains Vincent Roger, delegate to the Ministry of Sports in charge of the Great National Cause 2024. If we want to avoid an epidemic of diseases linked to lack of physical activity, it is imperative that we collectively change our lifestyles. In this Olympic and Great Cause year, we have increased dedicated actions throughout France and communication campaigns to trigger collective awareness and initiate profound change, but we will have to continue our efforts over time. »
While the Grande Cause website (www.grandecause-sport.fr) is full of testimonials from athletes and practical advice for getting active without having to put on your sneakers, the societal changes that are needed, on the other hand, require question centuries of Cartesian thinking, which have long relegated physical and sporting activity to the rank of optional hobby, or even secondary school discipline.
A vast project which will question the place of sport at school, but also at university, where only a fifth of students manage to continue practicing sport. Employers and communities are also invited to think about the place of sport in professional life and urban space, both to improve the quality of life and to create social bonds. What if in the land of Enlightenment, sport ultimately became the expression of a true culture, capable of uniting the population in a surge of joy, fulfillment and sharing?
While waiting to achieve this ideal that Pierre de Coubertin would not have denied who invited us to reconcile “ two former divorcees who are muscle and mind “, don't forget to move for 30 minutes a day, stretch whenever you can and take advantage of your Sunday to do a little muscle strengthening!
