Satnam Bajwa admits the parkrun he manages at Rouse Hill in Sydney’s north-west is not the easiest.
But that has not stopped a growing number of people from getting up each Saturday morning to brave the 5 kilometre run.
“We used to have 70 to 80 people initially … and now we have around 130 to 140 participants coming every week,” he said.
One of the reasons it has grown is because of the run’s inclusivity, according to Mr Bajwa.
“We welcome everyone. If we refuse anyone, we won’t be able to run the event,” he said.
“We have tail walkers or park walkers who talk to people and encourage others to complete the parkrun.”
While groups like the one at Rouse Hill are growing, statistics show inactivity in Western Sydney is higher than the rest of Sydney.
A report from the Centre for Western Sydney has found just over 40 per cent of residents in the Western Sydney Local Health District participated in insufficient physical activity, compared to 26 per cent in Sydney’s Local Health District.
It found diverse communities, including Indigenous people and those from non-English speaking backgrounds, were more likely to be inactive with poor health, a lack of time, cultural and religious considerations and language barriers being contributing factors.
Western Sydney’s ‘inactivity crisis’ explained
Western Sydney Moving convenor David Burns is lead author on the Tackling Inactivity and Inequity in Western Sydney: A Systems Approach.
He believes the region has an “inactivity crisis”.
Mr Burns said it’s costing the region $1.5 billion — a figure calculated by assessing productivity, working days, mortality rates and chronic diseases across the relevant districts.
He said structural barriers like a person’s economic circumstances or their education level prevented some Western Sydney residents from being more regularly active, resulting in shorter life spans.
“Depending on where we live can depend on how long we live … we’re talking 12 to 15 years between people’s life span,” Mr Burns said.
Physical inactivity can pose risks to someone’s health, according to the report, contributing to chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, some cancers, dementia, osteoporosis and diabetes and exacerbate mental health conditions.
Mr Burns said a “systems-based approach” was needed to examine more “culturally responsive programs” better suited to the needs of people in Western Sydney.
He said that involved uniting government and community organisations, integrating physical activity into schools and workplaces and ensuring recreational and leisure spaces are affordable and accessible.
“Western Sydney has unbelievable strengths. We know that it’s a young population. We know it’s diverse and we know that there’s 170 people from 170 countries. People speak 100 different languages,” Mr Burns said.
“For some kind of population groups, maybe activity is not natural to them or maybe sometimes they don’t feel comfortable in certain surroundings being with [a different gender].”
He said one solution could involve using existing spaces and create activities that accommodate different groups of Australians.
How one approach could be the answer for change
A significant proportion of the Australian population does not meet the recommended level of activity.
As per the Australian Bureau of Statistics, just under one in four Australians aged 15 years and over met the physical activity guidelines.
The World Health Organization recommends adults complete 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity in a week.
Children should complete about 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity a day, the guidelines said.
Macquarie University associate professor in public health Josephine Chau said a “systems-based approach” could promote change.
She compared this solutions-focused approach to riding a bicycle, with different parts coming together to form a smoother system.
“If we think about all the various stakeholders, the community groups, levels of government, researchers … they’re all the different parts of the bike and if everybody works together … then the bike or the system will work smoothly,” Dr Chau said.
Urban planning and contributions from various government stakeholders to encouraging physical activity had an important role to play, she noted.
Dr Chau said suburbs that were more spread out with fewer places accessible on foot were more likely to promote inactivity than densely populated suburbs.
“It’s about what kids do at school in terms of developing those healthy, active habits from early on and what we can do to make sure that as we age … that we have those opportunities for us to be active and stay active,” she said.
“Areas of Australia that, perhaps for example, might be more spread out, have less infrastructure that supports active travel or public transport, or perhaps areas where … your shops are all spread out … then [there will] be more of a barrier to people becoming or being able to be active.”
Mr Burns said approaching inactivity from a preventative health perspective could save the economy money too.
“Physical activity can’t solve all social problems but it can do a lot of good,” he said.
