NOTICE PAPER NO. 1720
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 27 FEBRUARY 2023
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Leong Mun Wai
Non-Constituency MP
Question No. 2725
To ask the Minister for Health (a) what are the estimated cost savings to the Government from removing the reward milestones in the National Steps Challenge for clocking 7,500 and 10,000 daily cumulative steps; and (b) how do the cost savings compare against the potential cost to the individual caused by a more sedentary lifestyle due to the removal of the reward milestones.
Answer
1. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) is spending more on promoting physical activity, by significantly expanding the number of physical activities in the community. It hopes to increase our activity outreach from 31,000 to 47,000 participants a week.
2. However, with greater outreach to benefit more people, HPB has to concurrently lower the maximum Healthpoints that an individual can earn in the National Steps Challenge, given the limit to our resources. Our experience is that whether participants are clocking 5,000, 7,500 or 10,000 steps a day, they are already inculcating a habit of staying active, with potentially minimal influence from Healthpoints.