13 Jun 2018

Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Thapelo Olopeng, has encouraged employees to lead the culture of exercising and eating healthy to curb non-communicable diseases.

Giving a keynote address during his ministry’s national fitness and team day in Gaborone on Monday, Olopeng said exercising once a month would bring the much needed difference hence the need to take fitness to their homes.

“It is important that we make exercising our culture as government officials. When the body is fit the mind also becomes fit and active,” he said.

Daily exercise helped reduce risks of contacting non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes, he added.

The minister said lack of exercise affected one’s productivity level in the workplace as people are always tired.

“If we can daily exercise, we will have a higher productivity in our workplaces, it doesn’t require many hours to achieve your goals, 30 to 1 hour of exercise daily will do,” he noted.

For her part, Thato Ntswaneng from Zeta clinic said the national fitness day was a good day that emphasised exercising and healthy eating habits.

She encouraged people to know their diabetes and cholesterol numbers so that they knew what they were working with as it helped one to create an awareness about self.

“Make it your responsibility so that you can easily control your blood pressure and your diabetes level,” she said.

Ntswaneng also encouraged people to drink water and energy drinks when exercising, as they lose a lot of water and salts through sweat. The ministry’s fitness day takes place every second Friday of each month. ENDS