““Play, not Therapy: the EU’s role in Play, not Therapy: the EU’s role in promoting health-enhancing physical promoting health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA)” activity (HEPA)”

Jacob Kornbeck Jacob Kornbeck

Willy Calewaert Chair Sixth LectureWilly Calewaert Chair Sixth Lecture VUB, Brussels, Thursday, 3 March 2011, 6.00-7.15 pmVUB, Brussels, Thursday, 3 March 2011, 6.00-7.15 pm

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• Part I: “Play, not Therapy”: what does it mean?• Part II: The History Behind the EU’s Involvement with

Overweight/Obesity and Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA)

• Part III: The EU, Overweight/Obesity and HEPA: regulation, cooperation, inspiration?

Table of ContentsTable of Contents

Part I: “Play, not Therapy”: what does Part I: “Play, not Therapy”: what does it mean?it mean?

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• Rising overweight and obesity levels• Drop in fitness levels• Concern in all industrialised countries (public health budgets,

productivity in businesses)• High number of memberships in sport clubs• Decrease in daily physical activity (such as active commuting, play,

etc.)

Rise in Overweight FiguresRise in Overweight Figures

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Overweight and Physical ActivityOverweight and Physical Activity

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Overweight and Physical ActivityOverweight and Physical Activity

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Schmid, C. & Bojack, B. (2008): Soziale Ursachen der Adipositas bei Kindern und Jugendlichen und ihre Bedeutung für die sozialen Hilfen. In: Theorie und Praxis der Sozialen Arbeit, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 179-185

Kornbeck, J. (2009b): Sozialpädagogische Adipositasbewältigung zwischen Psychotherapie und Bewegungsförderung. In: Theorie und Praxis der Sozialen Arbeit, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 28-33

Kornbeck, J. (2009c): Why Social Work Can't Ignore Obesity. In: Professional Social Work: Magazine of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), February, pp. 21-22

Walker, S. (2009): Obesity Errors. In: Professional Social Work: Magazine of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), March, p. 10

Social work and obesitySocial work and obesity

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Orthodox social science critique of the medical perspective:• "In the biomedical and managerialist approach it is difficult to see beyond

immediate, specific needs that can be provided in the current health and social care system." (Heinonen, et al. 2009, p. 150)

Flawed social work perspective: • "A depressed young person cannot exercise, an anxious child will eat to

quell their fears. You don’t have to be a Freudian to appreciate the oral and anal comfort gained from the digestive process." (Walker, 2009, p. 10)

We need to move beyond these perspectives: Play when Possible, Therapy only when Needed. (And what kind of therapy?)

• "Provision of information alone, even scientifically-based physical activity guidelines, is not sufficient to bring about behavior change." (Troiano & Haskell, 2010, p. 38)

Different perspectivesDifferent perspectives

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• Sport and PA can make a strong contribution to the prevention of obesity.

• This means that sport organisations and school sport must have appropriate concepts.

• The medical perspective cannot do the job alone. But it is equally important to avoid the « therapeutic trap ».

• Sport academics and sport professionals must develop their own HEPA concepts, while drawing on the contributions made by other disciplines and professions.

Part I conclusionsPart I conclusions