Cuts to social and health organizations also undermine efforts to promote exercise

The sports sector may avoid the worst of the Finnish government’s budget cuts, but the organizations that help the least active people could still lose funding.

Martta Sopanen, chair of the Finnish Student Sports Federation, argues that the government’s approach sends a contradictory signal. Its Suomi liikkeelle program has funded efforts to increase physical activity among students, while cuts to student livelihoods have made it harder for many students to look after their wellbeing and exercise.

The planned reductions in funding for social and health organizations are another concern. These groups reach people who are particularly inactive through their work. Sopanen also points to cuts affecting the UKK Institute’s research and expert activities, saying they conflict with the government’s stated investment in physical activity.

She says the issue should not be set aside during a budget year that also precedes elections. All parliamentary parties have committed to improving the population’s physical capability. A parliamentary declaration says that goal requires physical capability to be considered across government, rather than left only to the sports minister.

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Now is not the time to drop the ball.