Exercise referral is service available on the NHS to help keep people healthy and in shape.
This scheme was designed to help people with long term health conditions become more active and stay in shape. Doctors will recommend patients to exercise schemes which exist in their community which are typically run by local leisure centers.
Patients who are put on these programmes will usually go through a 12 week course. The activities they do are supervised and tailored to suit and individuals needs. Erik Swarbrick, level four exercise referral specialist said:
"We're suffering massively from an obesity crisis right now and all the diseases which come with it." he says: "It costs around £6bn a year just for the NHS treatment."
Erik said that although everyone knows that exercise and a healthy lifestyle can help prevent these diseases, around 65 per cent of the population don't do any exercise. This is despite all the schemes the government run to help keep people in shape.
See the full interview below.
