Only a third of French people are aware. With the Olympic and Paralympic Games in his sights, the President of the Republic decreed, in November 2023 and for the year which has just begun, the promotion of physical and sporting activity as a major national cause in 2024. Through his “Move 30 minutes a day” campaign, the French government hopes to encourage the population to be more active and, thus, improve their health.
On January 8, 200 days before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the President of the Republic once again encouraged citizens to move more. “I invite you all to do at least thirty minutes of sport a day, more if you can, but at least thirty minutes a day because it is good for your health and for many things,” he declared in a video published on his social networks. And it’s also a way of having Games that will remain in our practices every day. »
“To be clear, the ideal would be to do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, or 75 to 100 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, or a mixture of the two,” specifies Martine Duclos, president of the National Observatory of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle. We no longer say thirty minutes per day because it can be distributed differently throughout the week, but it is still ideal. And on top of that, you have to do muscle strengthening twice a week. When you are over 65, you need to add balance exercises to avoid falls. And when you’re a child or teenager, it’s an hour a day. »
But ultimately, have these recommendations really sunk into the minds of the French? To measure physical activity before this pivotal year, OpinionWay is releasing this Wednesday a “30-minute barometer”, a survey carried out for CIC with a sample of 1,009 people representative of the population. And it proves that this great national cause is legitimate, because only 59% of French people practice a sporting activity on a weekly basis. Worse, 17% never exercise, while 13% do it less than once a month.
Run, walk…
Thirty minutes of daily physical activity, half the population isn’t there either. Among the 1,009 people surveyed, 27% indicated they do less than fifteen minutes of physical activity per day, while 23% only do between fifteen and thirty minutes. Conversely, 1% of the French population is extremely sporty, since they exercise more than four hours daily.
The intensity of sporting activity also varies greatly. While 41% of people who practice sport at least once a month believe they do it intensely, or even very intensely, the majority prefer to do it calmly, without pressure. The OpinionWay study also shows that, logically, as age increases, the intensity of effort decreases. The intensity of physical activity has an impact on the recommendations. In fact, at moderate intensity, 150 to 300 minutes of effort are recommended, compared to only 75 to 100 minutes at high intensity. “We consider the activity moderate when it is possible to continue a discussion, even if the respiratory rate increases,” explains Martine Duclos. When it’s high, we can only respond via onomatopoeia. »
Financial aid to encourage sport?
As for several years, running and walking remain the disciplines most appreciated by the French, while 15% of the population practices swimming, cycling or fitness. The leading team sport remains football, with 5% of participants, ahead of basketball and rugby. Note that padel has already found a place in the daily lives of the French (2%).
However, the practice of sport could still increase. When carrying out this barometer, respondents were asked to specify what could encourage them to do more physical activity on a daily basis. For 20%, it is financial assistance that would make the difference, while 19% of French people believe that freely accessible sports equipment or group practice would encourage them to exercise more regularly.
But more than sport, it is the knowledge of the recommendations in terms of physical activity to be in good health that worries. Only 22% of the population knows that it is necessary to move for thirty minutes daily, an astonishing percentage for Martine Duclos, who “thought it was better known than that”. 48% of French people consider their physical activity to be “sufficient”. The “Move 30 minutes a day” operation therefore remains very little known, as does the great national cause, proof that the work remains enormous.
