"The poor move less..." UK to spend 250M GBP to promote Movement in disadvantaged areas. What are we doing in Scandinavia?

Unfortunately, individuals in low-income communities often face barriers to accessing facilities and opportunities that are available in wealthier areas. Looking at data in the UK - wealthier areas in England has almost double the activity levels of the least active poorer areas, while a person’s lifespan could vary by up to 9 years depending on where they live.

The UK the government recently put together a "Get Active" strategy a private public partnership...which set ambitious targets of getting 2.5m more adults and 1 million more children active by 2030 to tackle the disparities in activity offsetting heart disease, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

In Scandinavia our overall public policy focuses more on Sport than Movement and has a long-term orientation, focusing on high ethical standards, volunteering, equity, and good governance to safeguard decision-making processes in sports. More often than not, it's a civil society organisation that's responsible for distribution, administration, organisation, and monitoring of government sports grants. The money is less targeted. There are less public/private funding initiatives than in EU/UK.

A closer look at Sweden, where YayPal is headquartered. In 2023, the Gini coefficient (which measures income inequality) saw a significant increase, reaching 0.30. This marks the highest level since the measurements began in 1975. There will be in all of Scandinavia, more inequality.

The impact of economic inequality naturally extends to Sports & Movement. It would be a profound misread categorise movement & sports as leisure or luxury activities, as they play a substantial role in reducing demand on our healthcare systems and work/life productivity levels.

Back in the UK their policy and private/public partnerships are designed to target the greatest resources to areas with highest inactivity levels and other social need indicators. We'd be keen to hear how public policy in Scandinavia uses data to drive similar outcomes...as this will impact our future product development.