What are the benefits and risks of different types of physical activity for people with cardiovascular disease?
• What are the successful approaches to adopting and maintaining a physically active lifestyle? • What are the important questions for future research? 1. What Is the Health Burden of a Sedentary Lifestyle on the Population? Physical inactivity among the U.S. population is now widespread. National surveillance programs have documented that about one in four adults (more women than men) currently have sedentary lifestyles with no leisure time physical activity. An additional one-third of adults are insufficiently active to achieve health benefits. The prevalence of inactivity varies by gender, age, ethnicity, health status, and geographic region but is common to all demographic groups. Change in physical exertion associated with occupation has declined markedly in this century. Girls become less active than do boys as they grow older. Children become far less active as they move through adolescence. Obesity is increasing among children. It is related to an energy imbalance (i.e., calori
