UI Professor of Physiotherapy Says Physical Activity is a Viable Option for Healthy Living
Oru Leonard
A Professor of Physiotherapy at the University of Ibadan, Professor Ade Fatai Adeniyi, has provided evidence on how physical activity has become a viable option for healthy living and the need for individuals to invest into their own health through physical activity.
The evidence was contained in the 559th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ibadan, which he delivered on behalf of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences.
The lecture was entitled “Lynching the Linchpin: Healthy Living in Disarray”
Professor Adeniyi stated that physical activity is very important to the wellbeing of apparently healthy people and those living with one health condition or the other.
He noted that it was obvious that man has deviated unwittingly from the design and specifications created for him by nature saying that the early man who had little, or no knowledge of Medicine was able to live long and ward off some undesirable health consequences through physical activities.
He said it has been seen how physical activity has supported the human system to stay healthy and functional and how physical inactivity has contributed to the woes of man by the various outcomes of physically inactive lifestyles.
He said these actions led to the lynching of the linchpin to a healthy living, which is physical activity.
Professor Adeniyi said it is the prerogative of all and sundry to make informed choices about adopting healthy lifestyles.
He therefore recommended that the healthy population should desist from self-rating of physical activity but to get accurate assessment and customised prescriptions for physical exercise from the experts.
He advised patients with chronic diseases not to see their diseases as death sentences but to strive to keep their appointments with their health care providers and live healthy and productive lifestyles.
He called for improved synergy among health care providers concerning education, counselling, and interventions, especially for physical activities.
Professor Adeniyi also charged policymakers to encourage parents to allow children to walk to school by creating safe school routes, providing functional sidewalks, and enforcing stricter driving rules to safeguard pedestrians and cyclists.
He advised that no schools should be approved without evidence of ample spaces for physical activities and recreation for the pupils and students.
The inaugural lecturer also recommended that new settlements should have neighbourhood recreational parks incorporated into the housing estates and the rules protecting the parks put in place.
The inaugural lecture was the ninth in the series of inaugural lectures for the 2023/2024 academic session.
