There’s a new coalition in town with the aim of getting Haligonians off the couch and away from the TV.

I say good luck, I like my couch!

Anyways here is the story from the Chronicle Herald.

A network of health, education and government representatives came together Monday morning at Halifax’s St. Mary’s Boat Club to sign on to develop a community-wide physical activity strategy.

The goal of the strategy is to come up with ways to get metro residents more active. Some ideas include providing greater access to indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, educating younger people about the benefits of physical activity and encouraging people to spend more time away from the computer or television.

Organizers hope to have the plan in place this fall, as statistics show health and fitness are on the decline in metro because of physical inactivity and poor nutrition.

“How are we doing compared to Canada? We’re significantly lower,” said strategy co-chairwoman Mary Russell.

According to a Canadian Community Health Survey, prepared by Statistics Canada in 2005, nearly half of metro’s residents are inactive and overweight. Other Statistics Canada figures for that same year show 45 per cent of men and 27 per cent of women in Nova Scotia are overweight, while a 2004 study estimated that physical inactivity costs Halifax Regional Municipality $68 million a year.

Altogether, seven partners, including Capital district health authority, the province’s Health Promotion and Protection Department, the Halifax regional school board and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia, pledged to develop the strategy.

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