Meeting of the Parliament 15 November 2018
The Scottish Government motion that we are debating today sets out the benefits of improved physical activity and healthy eating. A healthier lifestyle can benefit overall health and wellbeing and, my goodness, as a nation we need to have this debate.
Levels of type 2 diabetes—as we have already heard from David Stewart—heart disease and other illnesses, including many types of cancer associated with obesity, are stubbornly high in Scotland and they have been that way for years. That puts a strain on our hard-pressed national health service, other public services and economy, and it is something that we could well do without. That is why I very much welcomed the Scottish Government’s “A Healthier Future: Scotland’s Diet & Healthy Weight Delivery Plan” that was published earlier this year.
Some great work is going on across Scotland to address those issues, and I want to use some of my time in the debate to highlight some of the remarkable initiatives and fantastic organisations that are operating in my constituency and contributing positively towards the Government’s plan.
It is, of course, true to say that Stirling has some of the most beautiful and stunning landscape that exists anywhere in this wonderful country of ours. It is home to an impressive array of Munros, Corbetts, Grahams and Donalds, as well as spectacular lochs. Because of that inspiring landscape, it is an attractive and popular place for hikers, hillwalkers, kayakers and cyclists—the perfect setting to promote a healthy outdoor and active lifestyle.
Stirling is also the home of the now internationally recognised daily mile, which was pioneered at St Ninians primary school from 2012 and was the brainchild of the then headteacher, Elaine Wyllie. The scheme ensures that all pupils walk, jog or run a mile each day, in addition to the usual physical exercise that they undertake. A study by Stirling, Edinburgh and the Highlands and Islands universities has shown clear evidence that the daily mile approach can help to combat problems not only in Scotland, but globally. I understand that over 3,500 schools in more than 30 countries around the world now take part in that remarkable initiative. What a success story it is, which began in St Ninians in the city of Stirling. Not all is gloom and doom in this area, although it is very challenging—we know that.
Earlier this year, the Scottish Government said that it wanted Scotland to be the first daily mile nation, with nurseries, colleges, universities and workplaces joining more than 800 primary schools to take part regularly. As the minister said, the Scottish Government’s aim is to cut physical inactivity in adults and teenagers by 15 per cent by 2030. That equates to about a quarter of a million more people becoming active. Perhaps, in his summing up, the minister will say a bit more about how that ambition can be realised and reached.
I will say a few words about nextbike in Stirling, which is a highly innovative bike share scheme. Nextbike now provides 160 bikes across 23 bike stations in the city of Stirling, which are available 24/7. It is yet another advertisement for how we can have that active lifestyle.
I turn to healthy eating, and on that matter we are being watched very carefully by Philip Sim of the BBC. He has just tweeted:
“MSPs are debating diet and healthy weight on macaroni cheese day in the canteen. So everyone is making speeches about eating well, mere hours after half the people in the building gorged themselves on pasta, chips and garlic bread.”