GET DANCING! Says the Government
The Department of Health has announced a physical activity drive, including a national dance campaign featuring Arlene Phillips, the former judge from the BBC's "Strictly Come Dancing" television show.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said in a statement:
"In England, if we can get just one percent of people on incapacity benefit back into the workplace through active lifestyles, this would save the Exchequer 36 million pounds and industry 31 million."
Over 2.5 million people in Britain are on incapacity benefit, costing the taxpayer 13 billion pounds and industry 11 billion a year.
Mr. Burnham continued, "We are a sport-loving nation but we are simply nowhere near as active as we should be. We set ourselves the target of coming fourth in the 2012 Olympic medal tables, now I want us to aspire to fourth place in the physical activity league tables over the next 10 years"
Britain is in 21st place in Europe in terms of physical activity and the government estimates the National Health Service spends 3,000 pounds every second combating illness which could be prevented by physical activity.
Luan Underwood, founder of Fitness TV said, "We know that one of the most enjoyable ways of getting fit is through dance, and Fitness TV features a wide range of dance-based workouts, for all age groups and abilities."
