The catchy Push Play campaign of the 2000s is back, with Sport New Zealand relaunching the mass media initiative to get Kiwis moving more.
"For a lot of people, it will bring back some really great memories of people in days gone by and the messaging and the tune," Sport New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle said, adding that this will help people connect positively to the message of getting active.
This time around, there's no 30-minute daily target for getting active. Instead, the aim is for New Zealanders to play their way into exercise.
New research from Sport New Zealand showed an increase in barriers for Kiwis participating in physical activity in 2021, including a lack of motivation, feeling too unfit to increase participation, losing exercise habits and feeling too tired.
While average adult activity levels per week returned to those similar to before the pandemic, some groups including young people and Pasifika did not recover in 2021.
Youth activity levels dropped from those recorded in 2019 by 3.2%.
Push Play Aotearoa is back! (Source: 1News)
The research states for those aged 5 to 18, sports competition and tournament participation decreased for all ethnicities in 2021.
“The decrease in organised sports and activities has increased inequities in the system for Māori and Pacific ethnicities and for young people living in high deprivation areas," the research noted.
The most significant decreases between 2019 and 2021 tournament and competition participation were seen in Māori and Pasifika males, with 38% and 46% less participation respectively.
The latest Push Play advert sees children encouraging their family members to get active.
The first campaign ran from 1999 to 2008 with a range of media adverts.
A 2003 evaluation published in the New Zealand Medical Journal stated that between 1999 and 2002, the number of adults who intended to exercise more increased from 1.8% to 9.4%.
But no ongoing changes in physical activity levels were reported in surveys during this time.
The research abstract reports a separate, larger survey of the New Zealand population recorded physical activity participation increased in adults by 3% between 1997 and 2001.
The 2022 Push Play campaign has cost $1.67 million and was funded from the $265 million sport and recreation Covid-19 recovery fund allocated in the Government's 2020 Budget.
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