Fans and staff travelling to UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 fixtures in the Netherlands have boosted their heart health by walking and cycling almost 2000 km to host stadia. Over 1600 people including women, children and families have downloaded the Active Match Mobile app and have collectively burned a total of 74.542 calories, and saved 236.281 CO2 emissions by choosing to be active on their journey to support their favourite women’s football team.
The free-to-use Active Match Mobile App, developed by The European Healthy Stadia Network is part of A Healthy Heart Your Goal. This joint campaign by the World Heart Federation, UEFA, The Dutch Heart Foundation, the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) and the European Healthy Stadia Network aims to raise awareness of heart health and encourage women, children and fans to be more physically active.
Activities including an online fitness challenge, visits to Dutch schools and games in the fan zones are taking place in the lead up to and during the UEFA Women’s EURO, and will peak at the semi-finals in Breda and Enschede on Thursday 3 August with a giant A Healthy Heart Your Goal heart-shaped banner on the pitch during the opening ceremony to raise awareness about the importance of being active for a healthy heart.
In the Netherlands and in Europe, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death for women, with one in three dying from heart related illnesses. Being active and playing sport like football can make a difference: just 30 minutes of moderate exercise, 5 days a week can boost heart health and help prevent heart disease and stroke.
A new survey commissioned by the World Heart Federation among 4000 women in Europe shows encouraging data for the future: the younger generation of women are taking up the sport, with nearly one in five (19%) of 18-24 year olds in the four countries playing football, compared to just 4% of 45-54 year olds. The research also reveals that the number of female footballers is set to rise, with a quarter of 18-34 year old women questioned saying that they would like to play the game.
Download the #ActiveMatchApp:
Android – Google Play
iOS – App Store
