May 2008

Promoting Physical Activity: It's a Matter of Public Health

Citing the nearly 50 percent of Americans who are not active enough for optimal health and disease prevention, public health advocate Barbara E. Ainsworth, Ph.D., presenting at the 55th American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, cited the need to address inactivity as a public health issue.

"Of the four modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease, one is physical inactivity," Ainsworth said. "Essentially, half of the U.S. population is throwing caution to the wind, and that's why physical inactivity has become a public health issue."

Ainsworth believes the answer to increasing physical activity is coordinated, integrated, funded steps targeted to reach the general public. To be effective, awareness efforts need to be culturally and socially relevant, reach across socioeconomic levels and reach all generations and age groups, she said.

Past ACSM efforts have resulted in recommendations calling for national guidelines for physical activity to be regularly developed, updated and promoted. In March of this year, ACSM helped facilitate the launch of The Physical Activities Guidelines for Americans Act, introduced by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), along with Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). The legislation would direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to prepare and promote physical activity guidelines for Americans every five years.

"We need a physical activity plan at the federal level," Ainsworth said. "We need to encourage programs aimed at creating an environment conducive to physical activity, and we need to encourage and support policies at the governmental and private-sector levels that promote physical activity as well."

Among the environmental approaches that would be beneficial, Ainsworth called for more free or low-cost parks and recreation facilities, as well as more sidewalks and an increase in the number of bike trails and lanes. On the policy side, she said more communities need to adopt policies increasing physical education in schools, as well as modified housing policies that encourage people to live closer to work.

Ainsworth said that the United States has become a society fixated on making inactive behaviors convenient, citing the prominent placement of elevators and escalators—and the corresponding difficulty of finding the stairs—as a prime example.

In addition to reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and other chronic diseases, getting Americans more active brings other quality-of-life benefits, Ainsworth said, including increased productivity and improved mental health.

For more information, visit www.acsm.org.