ThaiHealth to promote good health through physical activities with “3 Actives” strategy
Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) has promoted good health through physical activities in the recent hosting of TPAC 2022 aimed at reducing NCDs in the population.
Jan 30, 2023 — In preparation of ThaiHealth’s 22nd anniversary, Advisor to the ThaiHealth Board of Directors, Dr Udolsilp Srisaengnam, said that the organisation was aiming to inspire, encourage, and empower all sectors in Thai society to achieve good health in all 4 dimensions: physical, mental, intellectual, and social, by co-organising the first “Thailand Physical Activity Conference 2022” or TPAC 2022 together with Thailand Physical Activity Knowledge Development Centre (TPAK), Mahidol University’s Institute for Population and Social Research, and its strategic partners in the government, private, social, academic, and community sectors. Themed under “Integrating Knowledge for Physical Activity Regeneration”, the conference will promote health under strategic framework in 7 aspects: 1) physical activity, 2) food, 3) tobacco, 4) alcohol and drugs, 5) road safety, 6) mental health, and 7) environment with an emphasis on health equality.
Advisor to Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine, Dr Prasit Watanapa, said that the human capital necessary for a healthy lifestyle is composed of knowledge, skills, health, and morality. It all starts with knowing oneself, tracking one’s own weight and body mass index (BMI), avoiding unhealthy food and drink, eating food according to nutritional principles with focus on vitamins and minerals, drinking sufficient amount of water (including water from food) which is 3.7 litres per day for men and 2.7 litres for women, and a quality sleep. Furthermore, it is also important to have physical activities on a regular basis to keep the body active at all times. People may employ technology or innovations to track, keep records of, and check their movements, sleep, and vital signs to reduce health behaviours including emotional and mental state of mind.
ThaiHealth Deputy Manager and Acting Director of the Healthy Lifestyle Promotion Section, Dr Paroj Saonuam, cited TPAK’s information that the coronavirus pandemic has brought Thai people’s rate of physical activities down from 74.6% in 2019 to 55.5% in 2020. To regain the optimal rate, ThaiHealth has joined forces to promote physical activity on the basis of ‘new normal’ under the “3 Actives” strategy: 1) Active People: encouraging people to be active, 2) Active Environment: improving the environment so that it is suitable and inviting to do physical activities, and 3) Active Society: creating values for an active society through the development of innovations, knowledge, and academic work on physical activities that could result in more physical activities, and further to 62% within 2022, leading to a new tendency to restore the rate of physical activity to its normal rate.
World Health Organisation’s (WHO) expert in designing policies and guidelines to promote physical activity, Prof Dr Fiona Bull, stated that Thailand is one of the world’s leading countries in the promotion of physical activities. It has formulated a decent strategy to promote physical activities that is consistent with WHO recommendations, which, in turn, helps to drive both policy, academic work, and to reduce disparity while effectively creating equality in physical activities for all people.
Director of Physical Activity Division, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, Dr Udom Asawutmangkura, said that the public health ministry in its duty of taking care of people’s health is driving on a mission to improve the quality of life for people of all ages. According to the statistics on NCDs, it was found that 24.7% of the working age (30-69 years old) are suffering from NCDs and are at risk of premature death. Most importantly, the government has to bear a heavy burden of treatment cost of up to 139 billion baht per year so it is crucial to promote physical activity as one of the most important factors that contributes to good health while reducing the risk of diseases. The ministry has been driving to promote physical activities which are in line with the international standards since 2010.
The MOPH has been promoting physical activity in accordance with international standards since 2010. In 2018, pushing for the physical activity promotion plan B.E. 2018-2030 National plan with strategies to drive physical activity promotion by integrating work with main agencies Including supporting research and academics as one strategy that reflects Thailand's progress. The physical activity masterplan for 2018-2030 was successfully released as one of the government’s strategies to facilitate inter-organisational integrations to promote physical activities with the help of research and academic works.
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