Jakarta. The Ministry of Youth and Sport seeks to encourage more Indonesians to participate in sport with its "Ayo Olahraga" ("Let's Do Sports") program to boost productivity.

In an "Ayo Olahraga" event held in Bekasi, West Java, on Sunday (21/05), Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi witnessed around 3,000 people taking part in sports activities, including jogging, walking and cycling.

The minister said in a statement that sport should start from the smallest unit – the family – and continue to large-scale participation. In addition, people should exercise regularly.

"Some health problems, such as obesity, are now common among children. The fact that Indonesia now has the highest number of children with obesity in Southeast Asia makes us realize that sports should start in the family," Imam said.

"If most people participate in sport with their family, we believe an active lifestyle can become part of the culture and thus impact the nation's productivity, build character and improve health," Yuni Poerwanti, a specialist staffer at the Sports Ministry, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

Yuni, who attended Sunday's event in Bekasi, said people do not have to wait for proper facilities to exercise. She said research carried out in 2010 showed that sports facilities at most schools in 120 districts were inappropriate, but that this was not a major handicap.

"To do sports regularly you don't need proper facilities as you can still jog, walk or skip with a rope. There are five characters of grassroots sports; it should be fun, easy to access, cheap, useful and done in a large group," she explained.

"Of course we expect public sports facilities to be improved, but with an event like a car-free day, people can at least do sport once a week," she said.

The program seeks to increase sports participation in the country by 32 percent this year, up from 24 percent in 2012.