Elsevier

Annals of Epidemiology

Volume 19, Issue 4, April 2009, Pages 253-256
Annals of Epidemiology

Healthy Hearts—and the Universal Benefits of Being Physically Active: Physical Activity and Health

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2009.01.019Get rights and content

Although ancient thinkers suggested that physical activity is good for health, systematic research on the topic did not begin until the middle of the 20th century. Early reports showed that individuals in active occupations had lower rates of heart disease than individuals in sedentary occupations. Investigators then began to evaluate leisure-time physical activity and health and found similar results. Later research used objective measures of cardiorespiratory fitness as the exposure, and found even stronger associations with health outcomes. Recent research has extended the earlier findings on activity or fitness and heart disease to a wide variety of health outcomes. We now know that regular physical activity of 150 minutes/week of moderate intensity physical activity reduces the risk of numerous chronic diseases, preserves health and function (both physical and mental) into old age, and extends longevity. The current challenge is to develop programs and interventions to promote physical activity for all in our increasingly sedentary societies

Section snippets

Beginning Physical Activity Epidemiology

When one of us (J.N.M.) in 1948 began to study the epidemiology of the “modern epidemic”—as it was already being called—of coronary heart disease, the only hunch we had was that it could be related to occupation. It was more common in men than in women and as middle age advanced. There was the observation by Osler, the master modern physician, and some indications in national mortality statistics, that occupation could be significant. Comparable data on morbidity were not available. So we

Professor Ralph S. Paffenbarger's Contributions

Following the work on occupational physical activity and CHD in Britain, Ralph Paffenbarger began two epidemiological investigations in the United States to evaluate the relation of physical activity to health. He established two cohorts—one of occupational activity in San Francisco Bay Longshoremen (10) and the second a follow-up of male graduates of Harvard College (11)—to evaluate the effect of leisure-time physical activity on various health outcomes. “Paff” often used to say that it would

Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Health

Although the early work showed a consistent pattern of benefits for physical activity, the studies did not assess actual fitness. A potential benefit of evaluating cardiorespiratory fitness is that it is an objective laboratory test and is perhaps a more accurate indication of recent physical activity habits than information provided by job classifications or self-reports of physical activity. Of course, there is a genetic component of fitness, just like everything else we might measure in

Universal Health Benefits of Regular Exercise?

There has been mounting evidence over the past 50 years of the importance of adequate exercise in maintaining cardiovascular health and preventing disease. In recent years the list of beneficial effects across the body's physiological functions, including blood pressure and lipids, and physical and social capabilities has continued to grow. It is also becoming clear that people who exercise adequately are less likely to develop stroke (5), some forms of cancer (20), type 2 diabetes (21),

Recognition of Physical Inactivity as a Major Public Health Issue

The early research reported herein on physical inactivity and health eventually attracted the attention of the public health and clinical medicine communities. Exercise recommendations for use in clinical practice and public health began to emerge in the 1970’s, with the early focus primarily on vigorous, sustained aerobic exercise (25). As additional research in both epidemiology and controlled experiments emerged, it became clear that moderate amounts and intensities of physical activity also

Summary

Increasing mechanization at work and getting about, more attractive sedentary options for leisure time, and the engineering of energy expenditure out of daily life combine to reduce the volume of physical activity and increase the amount of sitting for the majority in modern society. We now have ample evidence that these conditions constitute a major threat to the health of individuals and the overall public health, contributing substantially today, for example, to the obesity crisis. There has

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