3 Personal patronage of local policy makers

Local politicians are local role models. When introducing measures
to encourage physical activity among children, it is necessary
to gain political advocates who support their implementation
both personally and politically.

Local politics means acting politically in a local environment. Local
politicians are also citizens of their town and obviously very present
in everyday life in the respective urban community. As a rule, the
citizens have a very close affiliation to local politics. A programme
or measure accompanied and presented by a local politician can
lead to a strong identification of the inhabitants and target groups
since they feel they are being personally supported. The idea of a
healthy city gains credibility if it is conveyed for instance by a local
politician and in this way such programmes enjoy a greater degree
of acceptance.

Therefore, local politicians, ideally from the relevant departments,
should be engaged in introducing and promoting the individual
programmes. Joint actions and participation in the programmes
should be organised, as should advertising the campaign in press
conferences etc. The politicians should take on a role that the people
can personally identify with. Together with Guideline 1 and 2
Guideline 3 is another module of politically supported programme
conception.