Movement against cancer: Cancer aid calls for more sports in schools

Movement against cancer: Cancer aid calls for more sports in schools

In Germany, people are promoting more exercise to prevent cancer. The German Cancer Aid and other organizations are supporting a health campaign that particularly emphasizes the importance of regular physical activity. This initiative aims to raise awareness of the positive effects of sport on health and to inspire children to lead an active life.

Regular exercise has been shown to help reduce the risk of cancer, and experts are calling for schools to offer an hour of ungraded school sports per day. Gerd Nettekoven, CEO of the German Cancer Aid, emphasizes that many children lose the joy of physical activity. “We are actually born with the joy of exercise,” he explains, and emphasizes how important it is to get children excited about sporting activities from an early age.

Campaign to promote the movement on social media

The #MitMirGehen campaign was launched on the occasion of National Cancer Prevention Week, which has the motto “Moving together – reducing cancer risk”. This initiative encourages people to motivate each other to exercise and share their experiences using the appropriate hashtag on social networks such as Instagram and Facebook. The goal of this campaign is to create a community that is actively involved in promoting health and exercise.

The researchers and organizations point out that a daily active lifestyle can significantly reduce an individual's risk of cancer. Sedentary lifestyles are often particularly affected, leading to around six percent of all new cancer cases in Germany. “In particular, the risk of some common types of cancer such as breast and colon cancer can be reduced by 20 to 30 percent through physical activity,” says the cancer charity. These numbers illustrate the urgency of exercising regularly to protect your own health.

In addition, cancer support organizations are calling for community initiatives to promote exercise in everyday life. Suggestions include the creation of safe and illuminated running routes and well-developed cycle paths to create a low-threshold exercise infrastructure for all ages. With the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommends 150 to 300 minutes of exercise per week for adults, such measures could make a major contribution to increasing physical activity in the population.

Unfortunately, only about a third of women and half of men reach these recommended levels, making the need for initiatives to promote physical activity even clearer. The current campaign focuses on networking and sharing positive sports experiences in order to create greater motivation and encourage more people to adopt a more active lifestyle.

The demands are high and the challenges significant, but the message is clear: exercise is key to promoting health and preventing diseases such as cancer. Getting used to an active lifestyle at an early stage is the goal that both schools and municipalities should massively support.