“Play and exercise every day!” – MOVE Week Highlights from Croatia

13/06/2017

Not only has been Croatia part of the MOVE Week initiative from the beginning, it is also one of the good examples where a country has successfully involved health authorities and general practitioners to the initiative. This year they continued the good work: NowWeMOVE Campaign and MOVE Week Coordinator Renata Kutnjak Kiš shares the highlights from Croatia and Međimurje County.

The Institute of Public Health of Međimurje County has taken part of the MOVE Week since it was launched six years ago. This year, our main activities took place in small Međimurje County, with a population a bit over 113,000 people, but some side-events were also organised in other parts of Croatia.

Collaborating with numerous partners from all social sectors, we once again managed to achieve amazing results. To our knowledge, MOVE Week 2017 in Croatia in Međimurje County alone resulted with 70 different events with about 4,000 participants from ten local towns and smaller municipalities.

Everyone has the right to MOVE

Our pioneer partners from the cancer patient clubs of the County League against Cancer Čakovec was in charge of organising recreational meetings and gatherings for the cancer patients. Breaking the taboos and barriers to the right to move, the active club members have shown that even in difficult times physical activity should not be forgotten.

Moreover, we have strengthened and widened our partnership with numerous kindergartens, primary school and also retirement homes, which are now essential partners of the MOVE Week. Some of our long-standing partners, i.e. the Association of Sports Recreation “Sport for All” Mala Subotica, Mursko Središće, Šenkovec, Strahoninec, and Gardinovec, are successfully organising new events every year. Most of them carry the simple but effective idea of MOVE Week – to engage local residents from all generations in outdoor activities.

Encouraging Croatians to live a tobacco-free life

For the second time, the Međimurje County was also in charge of another movement for students in primary and secondary school – namely the “No Tobacco Day”. With more than 280 participants, local pupils took part in recreational games.

This year’s theme “Play and exercise every day, live a tobacco-free life” continued the idea of promoting healthy and cigarette-free lifestyle among students. Organised by the Institute of Public Health County of Međimurje, the event brought together both national and local partners, including “Sport for All” associations.

The closing event of this year’s MOVE Week in Međimurje County was marked by a major event organised in Prelog. The final event gathered various activities, including the Festival of Nordic Walking and hiking, sightseeing in Prelog and exploring the natural characteristics of the area, and dance Workshop called “With dance we awaken the spirit and body”.

Renata Kutnjak Kiš, MD, Coordinator of the NowWeMOVE Campaign and MOVE Week in Međimurje County

Photo Credit: Zavod za javno zdravstvo Međimurske županije