HPB to increase capacity of physical activity programmes, adjust National Steps Challenge

SINGAPORE - More residents will be able to access free physical activities such as kickboxing and yoga at community spaces islandwide from 2023.

In support of

Singapore’s preventive care initiative Healthier SG

, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) announced plans on Sunday to progressively raise the capacity of its physical activity programmes from serving 31,000 people every week to about 47,000.

It will also align its National Steps Challenge

with the revised Singapore Physical Activity Guidelines

 from Feb 20 to encourage residents to clock 10 to 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day and at least 5,000 steps daily.

In line with the guidelines’ recommendation for Singaporeans to engage in a variety of physical activities, residents can tap a range of programmes, including Zumba, resistance band exercises, low-impact aerobics and high-intensity interval training sessions, said HPB.

These programmes are conducted in community spaces such as sports centres, parks, housing estates and senior activity centres in collaboration with HPB’s public and private sector partners.

HPB will also adjust its National Steps Challenge to help residents take active steps towards meeting the revised national guidelines.

The guidelines, updated in June 2022, focus on encouraging people to do a range of activities and be less sedentary.

Notably, the target range of exercise for adults has been changed to between 150 minutes and 300 minutes a week, with no minimum time for each bout, as activities of any duration are found to be associated with benefits.

The previous guidelines had called for adults to accumulate 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week with a minimum of 10 minutes each time. 

Said HPB: “Particularly, adults are recommended to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, as meeting this recommendation is associated with reduced risk of premature death, incidence of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, stroke, high blood pressure, colon cancer and breast cancer.“

Currently, participants can earn Healthpoints by clocking between 5,000 and 10,000 steps each day, as well as 150 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per week. These points can be exchanged for rewards such as shopping vouchers.

The challenge aims to nudge participants to engage in more moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity regularly and work towards the physical activity recommendation each week, HPB said.

Under the new National Steps Challenge reward system, the number of points awarded for moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity that is 20 minutes or longer will be lowered.

Participants will still have to do at least 10 minutes of such activity continuously per session in order for the duration to be clocked.

To cater to sedentary individuals who are starting out on physical activity, or those who are unable to undertake more intensive physical activity, the programme will continue to award points to those who clock at least 5,000 steps a day.

But reward milestones for clocking 7,500 and 10,000 daily cumulative steps will be removed.

The challenge, which residents can register for at any point in time, had about 700,000 sign-ups as at January, said HPB.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Rahayu Mahzam, who announced the changes to HPB’s physical activity programmes at a brisk walking community event in Bukit Batok East on Sunday, said: “With the anticipated increase in availability of physical activity programmes and changes to the National Steps Challenge paving the way for Healthier SG, we hope more Singaporeans will cultivate the habit of being active, and work towards the nationally recommended physical activity levels for their improved health.” 

Said HPB: “Beyond recreational activities, doing effortful household chores, and taking the stairs instead of the lift can also help one to achieve the recommended physical activity duration at moderate to vigorous intensity.”