An innovative way of encouraging members of the family to get out and exercise together has been launched by Clare Sports Partnership.
The ‘Adventure Walks Clare’ Smartphone App encourages parents and their children to walk or run up to 2.5 km around the town of Ennis and Active Ennis John O’Sullivan Park, Lees Road, whilst playing a treasure hunt game.
The seven trails featured on the free app include adventures designed for families with children aged between 6 and 14.
Councillor Tom McNamara, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council and Clare Sports Partnership Board member, said, “Innovations like the adventure app are wonderful examples of the initiatives that Clare Sports Partnership uses in order to get more and more people active.”
“Anyone who is a parent or guardian of young children know the issues we have in getting our children to walk any distance,” explained John Sweeney, Coordinator, Clare Sports Partnership.
He continued, “We are also aware of the growing problem with sedentary behavior and obesity within the country. Some of this sedentary behavior is due to screen time. With this in mind, we have decided to use screen time to solve the problem.”
“Over the coming months, Clare Sports Partnership will be asking a number of other communities to submit suitable walking paths and tracks that can be included on the app. It is hoped that the uptake will be good and that eventually the entire county will be covered,” said Mr. Sweeney.
Senior Health Promotion Manager with the HSE, Ms. Geri Quinn commented, “The adventure walking app is a super tool for all the population to use and to get out and about. We all need to be more active in our everyday lives as sedentary behaviour is now recognised as the 4th leading cause of premature death in Ireland and across the world.”
“The World Health Organisation estimates that approximately 3.2 million deaths each year are due to insufficient physical activity. At present, the health promotion & improvement department are working with the Sports Partnership, Clare County Council and other partners, to ensure that Ennis and other towns gain, under the National Healthy Ireland Framework, Healthy Town Status, and ultimately this will lead to Clare gaining Healthy County Status. ” added Ms. Quinn.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.