HKU Bulletin October 2004 (Vol. 6 No. 1)

4 5 COVER STORY regular activity. The Institute plans to broaden its programme of offerings to include not just activities for sports skill improvement but also ones addressing general physical well-being and weight control. “One of the ‘hooks’ to get people active is to make exercise a social event. Many people stay exercising longer if they can do so with friends or family rather than doing it alone. So we’re trying to get communities of people together so that they support each other through the di ff icul t process of taking up, and then maintaining a programme of physical activity,” said Abernethy. Hong Kong’s slick, shiny gymnasiums are not an option for many people who may be turned off by either the general atmosphere or the competitive pressure to look good. “Many people don’t want to get into a leotard and work out in a gymnasium. People who haven’t exercised for a long time generally feel self-conscious. So programmes to get sedentary people active need to be quite different,” he said. For this reason the Institute plans to progressively offer a greater range of programmes using gentler, repetitive forms of exercise like walking and swimming to help people get started and build physical activity into their day. Another important goal for the Institute is to help integrate expertise in exercise more systematically into the Hong Kong health system. At the moment there is no obv ious way for medical practitioners to refer people with, or at high risk of, chronic diseases related to inactivity to the expertise they might need to achieve a more physically active lifestyle. For example, a person with adult onset diabetes may need to change their lifestyle through diet and exercise but a general practitioner does not typically have the time or expertise to help and monitor the patient’s activity uptake. A system which allows doctors to refer patients to an exercise specialist has proven advantageous in other countries. This ensures they are getting exactly the right type of exercise, advice and support they need. Abernethy describes this as a significant missing link in our current medical system. “So this is one area we’re keen to develop, if possible” he said. “By putting people with expertise in the chain we can try to develop an effective medical referral system for exercise that will help patient outcomes.” So with first-class facilities, a batch of new programmes and expert advice on the way there is no longer any excuse to be a couch potato. T he 2004 Olympics may be over but our sports scientists are already on a mission to encourage competitors for the Beijing Olympics to train at our facilities in the run-up to the 2008 Games. The Director of the Institute of Human Performance said he is keen to find a means of upgrading University facilities, like the Stanley Ho Sports Centre, to a level where they can be used by teams for pre-Beijing training. “In the 12 to 18 months before the Games, and even up to the final weeks, many athletes prefer to train in an environment that is similar in terms of climate and culture,” said Professor Bruce Abernethy. “Hong Kong is well-situated to capitalize on that. It provides a cultural middle ground between East and West and has a climate sufficiently similar to Beijing to be attractive to visiting teams. “And having Olympic athletes training on site would provide a new injection of energy and life to the campus”, he added. Abernethy hopes the University’s sports facilities can become a stronger hub of activity not just for the University population but for the surrounding community as well. “The more we can make the University interactive with the community – and physical activity is a wonderful vehicle for achieving this – the better it will be for everyone. “It’s hard to expect the community to support and engage wi th the Universi ty i f they perceive our faci l i t ies, and the opportunities for exercise they present, as being out of bounds for them,” he added. The Institute is also hoping to capitalize on the enthusiasm Hong Kong people expressed for the 2004 Olympic Games by encouraging staff and students to become more active. China’s Olympic gold medalists were greeted like pop stars when they visited the University in September and Abernethy hopes that enthusiasm can be har nessed to create an environment where physical activity is more regularly integrated into everyday life. “Whi le we’ re keen on ways to maximize the spor t ing achievements of University students – and through schemes like the Sports Scholarship Awards allow excellence in sport and scholarship to coexist – of equal or greater importance is the mission to get the University population more physically active to capitalize on the many health benefits regular activity provides,” he s W aid it . h physical activity its core business, one of the challenges for the Institute is not just to support sport but also to get staff and students who are not necessarily ‘sporty’ involved in Going for Gold and Couch Potatoes