Exercise is Medicine

We spoke with Taniya Singh Nagpal who is the co-chair of the National Exercise is Medicine Student Executive from Exercise is Medicine® Canada (EIMC).

Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) is a global health initiative that spans over 40 countries and is focused on encouraging primary care physicians and other health care providers to prescribe physical activity when designing treatment plans for patients and referring them to recognized exercise professionals.

Taniya spoke to us about the importance of students at post-secondary institutions across Canada working to incorporate daily physical activity as both a proactive and reactive measure to maintaining both their physical and mental health.

Currently, only 15% of Canadians are meeting physical activity recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week, which comes up to about 30 minutes per day.

Taniya says that, “There is an abundance of research to show that exercise can significantly improve mental health… and this works for both prevention and treatment.”

In Canada, there is a program called Exercise is Medicine on Campus where student leaders on University and College Campuses can create a local EIM chapter.

The chapter is responsible for doing the following four things on campus:

1. Creating unique ways for students to get active
2. Educating all students on campus on the benefits of exercise
3. Serving as liaisons between students and the health services available on campus and;
4. Advocating for curriculum reform so that future medical students and health care providers are getting the necessary exercise related education they need to prescribe exercise as part of treatment and prevention.

EIM Chapters also work with Mental Health Services on campus to work on initiatives where physical exercise has a positive effect on the mental well-being of students. An example of this are Mood Walks where EIM chapters have partnered with CMHA Ontario to become Mood Walk representatives as it aligns perfectly with the EIM vision.

So far, there are more than 20 EIM chapters within Ontario.

In order to start a club, a school would need to identify a faculty advisor and student leader(s) and contact EIM Canada to express interest. Following this it is their responsibility to follow their school’s procedure for getting a club set up.

If you would like to learn more about Exercise is Medicine you can visit: http://exerciseismedicine.org/canada/