The first week’s worth of numbers are in from the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Challenge 2023 and they are very positive.
In the first seven days, 27,000 participants have signed up representing 780 clubs in every corner of the country.
That is just short of the total number that took part over the first two years of the challenge, both of which took place under varying degrees of lockdown.
The challenge will run until the 15th of February and the initial target was that participants would walk a total of six million kilometres.
The 2022 Irish Life Health of the Nation Research showed the number of people aged 35 – 54 describing themselves as feeling lonely or isolated has almost doubled since 2019 (increasing from 19% to 34%).
The research also revealed that more than 50 percent of adults find it difficult to motivate themselves.
Every Step Counts aims to offer community members a safe and open space to get active and involved with their community. Participants from previous steps challenges claimed exercising in groups encouraged them to continue their exercise for longer and also promoted a sense of community and accountability.
“The overall impact walking and steps challenges have had on public health long-term is incalculable,” said Professor Niall Moyna from the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU.
“A recent study saw that each additional 2,000 steps per day – up to 10,000 – was associated with 8-11 percent fewer deaths and a decreased risk of both heart disease and cancer.”
“That is why challenges such as Every Step Counts are so important, they bring people together with a common goal, ensuring a greater chance of success and also a sense of accomplishment, community and support.”
“At Irish Life, we want to help people live healthier and fuller lives,” said Stacey Machesney, Head of Health and Wellbeing at Irish Life.
“We’re delighted to be bringing Every Step Counts back for a third year, in conjunction with the GAA and local communities, now making it the largest steps challenge in Ireland.”
“In the past year, our sponsorship of the GAA Healthy Clubs has gone from strength to strength, with the entire community benefiting when a local club is provided with the skills, information and guidance to improve health, and we know Every Step Counts will be a great example of this.”
“With our Health of the Nation findings showing Irish people’s health declining year on year, steps challenges such as these are integral in keeping people active, involved and continuously engaged. We’ve seen impressive results the past two years with hundreds of clubs involved in the challenge. This has resulted in millions of steps taken and 78% of clubs having increased their Health Score in 2022.”
“The results we’ve seen from these steps challenges, truly demonstrate how small improvements in your daily life can have great effect on your overall wellbeing. I encourage everyone to get out and get involved in Every Step Counts and cannot wait to see how much our communities accomplish together this year.”
