Get your health and fitness check, free of charge, at Active Health Lab

SINGAPORE — Down with a cold, Mr Joseph Chen went to see his general practitioner, but it was his high blood pressure readings — at 142/92 mmHg — that put the doctor on high alert instead.

Aside from medication for his cold, the 27-year-old was handed another “prescription” by his doctor: a referral for a visit to the Active Health Lab at Our Tampines Hub.

At the lab, health experts assessed his body composition and other health parameters, such as blood pressure and waist circumference, and advised changes to his lifestyle.

Tipping the scales at 125.8 kg then, Mr Chen, who had lived a largely sedentary lifestyle and did not exercise, started walking more and eating a healthier diet. Instead of indulging in his breakfast staple of fried bee hoon, he switched to toast, kicked his habit of drinking bubble tea, and stopped consuming coffee six hours before bedtime.

He has reaped some rewards since making the lifestyle changes slightly over a month ago. His weight has gone down from 125.8 kg to 121 kg, while his blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) also dipped slightly.

Mr Chen is one of about 1,400 Singaporeans who have visited the Active Health Lab at Tampines since it opened its doors in August last year. The lab was an initiative by national sports governing body Sport Singapore (SportSG) to provide people with health assessments, and advice on personalised exercise.

Referrals to the labs by health practitioners, as in Mr Chen’s case, are part of a memorandum of understanding between Sport SG and five local health institutions — Health Promotion Board, Changi General Hospital, Exercise is Medicine Singapore, National Healthcare Group Polyclinics and National University Health System — signed in July last year.

A second lab was launched during the official opening of lifestyle hub Heartbeat@Bedok by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Feb 4). Heartbeat@Bedok also houses a sports centre, a swimming pool, the Bedok Public Library, Kampong Chai Chee Community Club, Bedok Polyclinic, and a senior care centre.

Under an initiative called “Heartbeat Cares” in Bedok, polyclinic doctors would refer elderly patients to the Active Health Lab to get them on board a fitness regime, or for healthy cooking classes at the community club’s new culinary studio, in addition to prescribing medication. 100 elderly people are currently on the programme.

“’Heartbeat Cares’ wants our residents to recognise that health and wellness are not just the 10-minute consultations in the polyclinic, but they include making lifestyle changes,” said Mr Lee Yi Shyan, adviser to East Coast Group Representative Constituency’s grassroot organisations.

Apart from stations where people can assess their grip strength, blood pressure and other parameters, this lab at Bedok, the larger of the two, also offers workshops for people to learn how to better manage their lifestyles in four key areas: physical activity, sleep, nutrition, and screen time on their electronic devices.

This “on-boarding programme”, which is free of charge, can also be customised for groups for up to 20 people.

IT software company Premium Systems was one firm that made use of the service, with its director Loh Boon Kee and eight staff signing on for the programme. “Due to the nature of our jobs, most of us are sedentary at work and spend up to nine hours each day staring at the computer screen,” said Mr Loh.

“We thought it would be helpful and important for everyone to learn how to take better care of ourselves.”

More detailed fitness assessments, such as a cardio respiratory fitness test and functional movement screening, will be available for a fee from April.

To encourage more Singaporeans to take ownership of their health, a mobile application offering fitness and health resources such as video workouts will be launched in March.

SportSG plans to set up more health labs in Sembawang and Jurong, as well as mobile labs that will travel around the island.

At the opening event on Sunday, Mr Lee, the grassroots adviser, said he hopes the hub can serve as a test bed for new ideas, such as to uplift the workforce and help small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) work better.

Calling it a “National Innovation Laboratory”, Mr Lee said the community hopes to pilot “smart” services that can help SMEs, including the 150 shops and 200 hawker stalls in the hub’s neighborhood, to “embrace technology and innovations”.

New mobile applications to help Singaporeans access government services at their fingertips are also in the works.