Physical activity recommendations for health: what should Europe do?

BMC Public Health

Debate

Mikael Fogelholm¹  Brian W Martin²  Fiona C Bull³  Pekka Oja⁴ 

[1] Health Research Unit, Academy of Finland, POB 99, Vilhovuorenkatu 6, 00501, Helsinki, Finland;Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland;School of Sport, Exercise and Health Science, Loughborough University and School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, Stirling Highway, 6009, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia;UKK Institute, P.O.Box 30, 33501, Tampere, Finland;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Physical Activity Guideline;    Physical Activity Recommendation;    Physical Activity Promotion;    Civic Organisation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-10-10

 received in 2009-06-29, accepted in 2010-01-11,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAccumulating scientific evidence shows physical activity to have profound health benefits amenable to substantial public health gains. Accordingly, recommendations on how much and what kind of physical activity enhances health have been issued. The 1995 recommendation from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine has been adapted worldwide, including Europe. Recently an extensive review of new evidence was undertaken and refined recommendations were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We summarise the development of physical activity recommendations and consider the need and possible ways to update the current European situation.DiscussionThe new recommendations include several new elements when compared to the 1995 recommendation, the most notable being the greater emphasis on the contribution of vigorous-intensity activities, and the inclusion of activities for muscle strength and bone health. They also include specific recommendations for young people, middle-aged adults, older adults and some special groups. The existing Pan-European and national physical activity recommendations in Europe are mostly based on the 1995 recommendation and primarily target adults and young people. Thus the degree to which they are compatible with the new recommendations varies. In view of the growing public health importance of physical activity, we discuss the need to review the existing physical activity recommendations at the European level and assess their consistency with the new evidence and the new recommendations.SummaryWe argue that a review of the current physical activity recommendations in Europe should be undertaken in view of the most recent research evidence. We recommend that such a task should be taken on by WHO Europe in parallel with the ongoing work by WHO global Headquarters. Following this, each country should develop communication strategies and implementation guidelines that take into account their ethnic and cultural diversity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Oja et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010