With an aim of reaching a wider section of society in building a healthy nation, Health Ministry trained the first batch of aerobics instructors in the country.
The 19-day long training which wrapped up in Thimphu yesterday saw some 24 aerobics instructors devotedly engaged in demonstrating their aerobic moves. They are now the first certified trainers of aerobics in the country. They also aspire to be the agents of change in creating awareness and promoting physical activities through aerobics.
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that strengthens heart rates, improves flexibility, and muscular
“Keeping this training for ourselves will not serve any purpose. We intend to impart the aerobics skills to all the people including students in the country and promote healthy lifestyles,” said one of the aerobics instructors, Tshering Dema.
Another instructor named Phub Wangdi endeavours to initiate aerobic classes in monastic institutions as well.
An aerobics instructor from India, Robin Gogoi trained the participants. He outlined that aerobics is the most-suitable form of exercise to keep oneself free of any illness.
“With evolution and change in lifestyles, people are consuming a lot of different types of food. So it becomes very important for people to do aerobic exercises. It helps you unite your body and your energies and it is a great calorie buster so both urban and rural areas people should take part in aerobic exercise,” he added.
According to the officials from the Department of Public Health, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 70 per cent of the reported burden of diseases in the country. And 53 per cent of all reported deaths are due to NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension, cancers, heart attacks, and stroke.
They also shared that physical idleness and consumption of unhealthy products containing high salts, processed food, sugary drinks, tobacco products and alcohol are major risk factors of non-communicable diseases. To avoid them, the department highly focuses on promoting physical activity through aerobics.
The Health Ministry has come up with ‘Multi-sectoral Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2015-2020’ to tackle all the NCD risk factors. The Heath Ministry organised the training with support from World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for South-East Asia and country office for Bhutan. WHO has spent approximately US$ 333,005 for the open-air gym and aerobics training in the country.
The ministry plans to launch similar physical exercise related programmes in other districts.
