CASEY CATCH UP BOOSTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN CASEY

The City of Casey has been proud to work with Federation University Australia on an exciting project aimed at supporting local women to become more physically active. Council approached Federation last year about possible research opportunities, to find out more about the barriers faced by women in accessing sport and recreation activities and how Council could empower the community to become more active.

Federation University conducted a survey and workshops attended by more than 75 women aged from 18 to 71, many with children under five-years-old and more than half from households that speak a language other than English.

The research found:

• Cost, not having enough time, being unsure of what was available to them, and domestic and care responsibilities were the top four barriers to physical activity.

• On average, women reported 107 minutes of leisure-time physical activity per week, below the recommended 150 minutes.

• Women thought being active was a good thing but didn’t think they had the social support and/or experienced difficulties to be active on most days.

• Among the women-designed physical activities were learn to swim classes, group-based exercises like yoga and Zumba, walking groups and social sports with a focus on affordability and child-friendly or childcare options. Based on the findings, Council will work towards developing recreation opportunities to enable more women and girls in Casey to be active more often.

To find out more about the activities already on offer as part of Council’s #CaseyGirlsCan program, see Council’s website.

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