As it turned out in the course of a sociological survey by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 63% of Russians do not go in for physical education or sports.
Of course, in such a situation, the state must take measures: sports and a healthy lifestyle are not only a private matter for everyone, but also a question of the health of the nation.
One of such measures, apparently, should be the revival of the standards of physical training, the so-called TRP (“Ready for Labor and Defense”) standards, a decree on this was signed by the President of Russia. The bottom line is that each age group and gender (from 6 to 70 years old) has its own set of exercises that must be taken. The main ones are running, pulling up and jumping into the water. Swimming, sword throwing, skiing, shooting and even hiking can be taken at the applicant’s choice. According to the test results, the applicant receives a badge – bronze, silver or gold.
FOM found out that 73% of the population support the idea of reviving the TRP norms (5% are against, and 22% are undecided). It is interesting, however, that of these 73%, only half are ready to take these standards!
In March 2015, the Minister of Sports Vladimir Mutko voiced his idea – to motivate people to pass the approved standards, giving them, for example, additional leave. According to FOM, 65% supported the idea of encouraging for passing the TRP standards. Only 5% spoke negatively. And I have heard several statements that all this in a bad sense resembles the Soviet Union.
My opinion on this issue is simple: the more the state or private employers encourage us to go in for sports and generally think about our health, the better. A healthy population, no matter how pragmatic it may sound, is economically beneficial for both business and the state. According to statistics, employees who regularly play sports get sick five days less, which, of course, is in the employer’s interests. And the state does not have to spend extra money because of the treatment of diseases that could have been avoided. This fact is backed up by the report Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease – Charting a New Course to Save Lives and Increase Productivity and Growth. *
According to the studies conducted, chronic diseases (cancer, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc.) increase the state’s costs of treating this category of people, and their withdrawal from the work process as a whole reduces the country’s economy. Using the example of the United States, the authors of the report indicated that with a competent systematic approach, it is possible to reduce the cost of treatment by 27,6%, as well as reduce the costs of employers in connection with workers’ illnesses by 26,9%, reduce the percentage of unemployed people, and accordingly increase GDP and revenues. to the budget in the form of taxes and other deductions …
In my opinion, if in order for a person to be able to run at least 2 kilometers or do 10 push-ups, incentive measures taken at the state level are necessary – additional days for vacation or monetary incentives, then they should be. Perhaps, by starting to play sports for the sake of rewards, a person will get involved in this and begin to monitor their health in general.
What do you think about this? Should the state encourage people to go in for sports and, in particular, to pass the standards? What measures, in your opinion, will help to massively involve people in sports?
* An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease — Charting a New Course to Save Lives and Increase Productivity and Economic Growth. Ross DeVol and Armen Bedroussian, with Anita Charuworn, Anusuya Chatterjee, In Kyu Kim, Soojung Kim and Kevin Klowden. Milken Institute. 2007.