A recent post by UKActive and the CMO caused quite a bit of a stir last week on twitter.

As most people know I am a consistent and passionate believer in the need for the nation to be more physically active. I recognised some years ago that physical activity was being designed out of our lives and was having a detrimental effect on our health and wellbeing. I have pushed the agenda at every opportunity over the last 20 years.

However, my wife suffers from #ME and I have learned a lot about this condition over the last 5 years in particular. I have had to rethink my own approach and hope my experience can help others avoid the same mistakes.

Over the last 3 - 4 years my wife Sarah has found herself deeply involved in the campaign from #ME charities about the harm caused by Graded Exercise therapy - or GET as it’s called. To cut a VERY long story short - basically forcing an #ME patient to take graded exercise can be deeply harmful. If you want the full back story and how we got involved in helping #MEAction with their Parliamentary Work there is further information on our website. We helped the campaign to change the NICE Guidelines that suggest GET is suitable ‘treatment’ for #ME patients.

The full background to the issue is available from the ME Action website

We are now blessed by campaign groups who know far better than me why GET is so dangerous for some patients, so I will follow up with more details over time. This blog is a quick response to the issue as a warning that we have to be caeful.

I hope UKActive have engaged with the justifiable criticism they received on this post. We need to be far more understanding and sensitive and understand Physical Activity really isn’t the answer to everything. If you think otherwise try watching the award winning #UNrest documentary

The message is simple. Don’t make assumptions Be aware and sensitive that physical activity is not ALWAYS appropriate for some vulnerable people and groups.