Sit Less, Get Active

Learning about how to Sit Less, Get Active and fight inactivity is a key message for cancer risk reduction. The evidence prepared for the European Code Against Cancer suggests that 9% of breast cancer and 10% of colon cancer cases could be avoided with increased physical activity (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26187327). Physical activity is also important in cancer survivorship. The messages are simple: Be physically active in everyday life. Limit the time you spend sitting.

Dr Danijela Gasevic, Lecturer, University of Edinburgh has shared with the SCPN information on a free on-line video based course which is coming our way soon:

Do you know how much physical activity is enough to gain health benefits, or how often you should do it, or how you can make it part of your daily lifestyle? A wonderful team of physical activity experts from the University of Edinburgh is working around the clock to deliver great videos to help you learn just that. The work has been undertaken with advice / endorsement from groups such as the Sport and Physical Activity Division of Scottish Government, NHS Health Scotland, NHS Lothian, Sustrans Scotland, Edinburgh Leisure, and SPORTA.

The videos will be part of a new open online course (MOOC) called Sit Less, Get Active. This free course will encourage and enable you to sit less and be more active in various settings such as your neighbourhood, work, home, or school. You will also learn more about how physical activity is monitored, how to set physical activity goals, and how to make it a habit.

The course is only three weeks long, with about 1.5 hours of video material in total. After these 3 weeks you can continue to receive physical activity promotional messages (weekly), and short videos (monthly) for the following 6 months that can act as nudges to help you be/remain more active. For more information about the course, please contact danijela.gasevic@ed.ac.uk . Also, don’t forget to sign up https://www.coursera.org/learn/get-active. The launch is planned for late May 2016. Until then, follow us on Twitter @GetActiveMOOC for a daily dose of physical activity promotional messages. And don’t forget, Sit Less, Get Active!

This article was originally published in the SCPN Newsletter Volume 7, Issue 2. Read the full issue here, or read the digital edition below (great full screen on mobiles).