Health and sports in Romania
38% of Europeans play a sport or practice some form of physical activity at least once a week.
Christine Leșcu, 12.10.2022, 14:00
38% of Europeans play a sport or practice some form of physical activity at least once a week, while 17% exercise less than once a week. Currently, up to 45% of Europeans never play sports and never participate in physical activity. That is what the 5th Eurobarometer dedicated to sport and physical activity has revealed. While its results indicate a stabilization compared to the 2017 Eurobarometer, the continued promotion of sport and physical activity clearly remains much needed. The survey also reveals that during Covid-19 pandemic, half of Europeans reduced their activity levels or even stopped altogether.
Romania, unfortunately, is below the European average with only 20% of Romanians practicing a sport or exercising regularly. Also, while 60% never exercise, 13% of them sit for more than 8 hours daily, thus neglecting their health and ignoring the benefits of exercise for themselves and others. Practiced together with others, sport increases the sense of belonging to a community and also social inclusion. This is what Iulian Şerban, a 42-yearl old trainer in a sales company told us. Iulian participates in amateur marathons and admits that he has discovered he loves doing that, quite late in life.
Iulian Şerban : ”I started running at 33. Until then I didnt do sports at all, neither in my childhood, nor later. In addition, I was doing my best not to make it to the gym classes at school. When I took up sports, I did it exclusively for pleasure. I mean, I didnt start doing sports for medical reasons or to prevent an illness. (…) I think that for ten years I smoked every day. I had a lifestyle totally opposed to sports. I started more out of curiosity, willing to do some exercise and I noticed that the two activities – smoking and running – didnt really match. After I quit smoking I realized that I could increase the distances I run. After that, I started signing up for competitions, for marathons, and I saw that something changed in me. Also, the community around me transformed. I started running with people who had the same passion, I created a new group of friends and developed together. And beyond the health benefits, there have been and continue to be real social benefits. Because motivation can often come from the outside, from the group you belong to.”
The group mentioned by Iulian Șerban takes part in marathons and competitions for amateurs that started to be organized in Romania a few years ago. For example, he recently participated in the Veterans Relay, organized by Invictus Romania, on a route that starts in Bucharest, passes through Ploiesti and Brașov to end on October 25 in Carei. Although the participants are quite numerous, Iulian believes that there is room for improvement: “Things can always be improved. What makes me very happy is that several international marathons are organizedin Romania, in Brașov, Cluj, Timișoara and Bucharest, which attract more and more people. And except for the proffessional athletes who come to improve certain parameters for international competitions, there are also many amateurs who participate. This is a very good thing, because the general public sees that alongside professional athletes there are also people of all ages who enjoy sports. I noticed peoples reluctance when someone practices sports, of any type. There are very few people who encourage movement. And there are many people who do not understand the phenomenon. (…)”
Among those to whom doctors recommend exercise are people with disabilities. But they also practice sports out of passion as Iuliana Meseșan, a social worker at the Motivation Foundation, told us. She is also the coordinator of the Motivation Team made up of people in wheelchairs, as well as people without disabilities, who participate in various sporting events, generally focused on running, and who encourage others to participate as well. Iuliana Meseșan: “We, the Motivation Team, are made up of around 100 people in wheelchairs and without disabilities. And it is very important for us to go to these sporting events, because it is an opportunity for us to show people without disabilities that even people in wheelchairs can do sports and it is very important to do sports. (…) We even want to grow Team Motivation year on year, so that more people without disabilities can join us, but especially more people who use wheelchairs. ”
Iuliana Meseșan believes that the Eurobarometer on sport and physical activity is in tune with her personal opinions: “At the Bucharest Marathon, the biggest sporting event we take part in, runners come in large numbers, but there is room for many others considering the capital city’s population. I think that many Romanians have a sedentary lifestyle. We live these times when we invest a lot in our job, there is the personal life that we want to devote time to and we forget how important it is to exercise.” In addition to health, socialization and nutrition benefits, sport can therefore be an element of inclusion for disabled and disadvantaged people. (EE)
