Exercise and Disease Prevention

Physical Activity/Exercise and Disease Prevention

The Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee, formed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2008 reviewed the existing scientific literature to identify the current evidence to develop a comprehensive set of specific physical activity recommendations. The review found strong scientific evidence that physically active people have higher levels of health-related [Page 448]fitness and a lower risk of developing a number of disabling medical conditions than do people who are inactive. These findings are summarized below.

Health Benefits of Regular Physical Exercise

The review found that both children and adults benefit from regular physical activity. For children and adolescents, physical fitness and health status are substantially enhanced by frequent physical activity. Compared with inactive young people, physically active children and youth have higher levels of cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength, less body fat, more favorable cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk profiles, enhanced bone health, and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression.

In adults and older adults, strong evidence demonstrates that more active men and women have lower rates of all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, colon cancer, breast cancer, and depression than less active adults. In addition, physically active adults and older adults also exhibit a higher level of cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, have a healthier body mass and composition, and have a biomarker profile that is more favorable for preventing cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes and for enhancing bone health.

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