Kampala-Government through ministries of Health, Education, Defense, Gender, labor and social development, together with the Uganda police has supported a local fitness association, Professional Health Instructors Association of Uganda, PHIAU, in a campaign to ensure Ugandans stay fit and eat healthy.
This was announced at a press conference held at Media Centre and attended by government officials from the above ministries. The campaign calls on Ugandans to adopt a healthy lifestyle that includes regular activity and good nutrition.
According to the Ministry of Health, those who work in offices are the most affected. ”their lifestyle of driving to work, sitting the whole day and ordering fast foods that are known to be fatty exposes them to dangers such as heart diseases, diabetes among others .” says Dr.Gerald Birunji.
According to Mr. Andrew Sorowen of Uganda Police, the police already have an ongoing program to check on the physical fitness of all police officers. “We are going beyond police and are already working with schools to ensure young children have basics of fitness and also self-defense. We want to reduce cases of rape among the females by arming them with self-defense tactics,” Mr.Sorowen added.
According to PHIAU president Mr.Sulaiman Fit, the team is here to ensure that Ugandans knowthe very basics of fitness routines from an early age. “Thecampaign we have is beginning right from the lower level of schools to corporate bodies and to government institutions.” He said. “The idea to have a fitness gala is to ensure that everyone is involved right from the beginning and no one feels left out. We urge Ugandans to turn up in large numbers on the 14th of June and learn more from our experts.”
The national Physical Fitness Gala will be held on June 14 at Namboole, the activity will have both the kids and adults section with both sections having fitness experts. Nutrition experts will also be available to take the people through what to eat ant what not to eat.
