Kirklees Director of Public Health Annual Report 2024 to 2025: Physical activity matters

Rachel Spencer-Henshall's report this year focusses on physical activity.  

The Director of Public Health’s annual report is Rachel's independent professional statement on the health of local communities, and this year it looks at the importance of physical activity from a health and wider societal perspective. In particular, it highlights and examines the persistent inequalities that some groups experience.

Importantly this report represents the start of an important journey rather than a series of specific actions.  It acknowledges that removing barriers to physical activity needs collaboration across multiple agencies and systems.  The report advocates strongly that the focus of future work, such as the Place Partnership work, should be on tackling the associated inequalities and the factors that influence people’s ability to move more, with particular emphasis on those who are least active and experience the greatest disadvantage.

She said: Firstly, I want to recognise that the term 'physical activity' means different things to different people. For some people this could mean going to the gym, playing competitive sports, cycling or swimming, but for others it could mean going for a walk in a local park, running after your children or getting off the bus one stop earlier.

"Whatever your personal definition of what it means to be physically active, the evidence is very clear - the advantages of living an active lifestyle are huge and it is never too late to benefit from taking up physical activity. At all stages of life, from the very early years and right into older age (including during pregnancy, and for those with long-term health conditions), physical activity is a fantastic way to maintain and improve physical and mental health.

"This, in turn, can help reduce the burden on our health services; may help support people entering or remaining in work; and support our environmental efforts by adopting more active forms of travel. More than this, it provides people with an opportunity to connect with one another, with families and friends, and with local places and open spaces. 

"The good news is that even small amounts of physical activity can make a big difference over time. In terms of physical activity, the key message is that 'some is good, more is better'. "

Read the report