Page 29 - seminars

RECREATION: FUEL FOR LIFE

Studies show that more than 50% of the EU population does not take the minimum 30-minute walk
recommended by the World Health Organization, 46% of the US population participates in almost no daily
physical activity, and more importantly, for various reasons, women's daily physical activity participation
in Turkey is only 4 minutes. On the other hand, many current studies in the literature (Wheatley &
Bickerton, 2022) draw attention to the benefits of participating in physical activity as a leisure time
activity. Participation in physical activity has many benefits: a) physiological (to accelerate metabolism
and prevent weight gain), b) psychological (feeling good and happiness), and c) social (creating
independent and active individuals). In addition, active participation in physical activity contributes to the
increase of social cohesion, social solidarity and the creation of a democratic society.
As a result, due to many reasons mentioned above, the importance of free time, which was associated
with concepts such as fun and games in the past and was seen as a time period for children, has been
understood today and it has emerged that it should be taken much more seriously. For this reason, there
is a great need to create a leisure time culture in the society. One of the main keys to achieving this goal is
undoubtedly the provision of free time education (formally and informally) from an early age.

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