Editorials

Exercise is medicine and physicians need to prescribe it!

R E Sallis

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Department of Family Medicine, Fontana, California, USA

Dr R E Sallis, Medicine and Sports Medicine, 10850 Arrow Route, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730, USA; robert.e.sallis@kp.org

Accepted 13 October 2008

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The three major factors that influence our health and longevity are genetics, the environment and behaviour. Because we have very little control over genetic factors, it is critical that we focus on the environmental and behavioural factors we can control to improve health. Whereas great strides have been made in reducing the environmental factors influencing disease, such as through vaccinations, hygiene and safety regulations, little has been done to target behavioural factors such as physical inactivity. It is tragic that so little has been done to address the one major factor affecting our health and longevity that is almost entirely under our control. At this point in time, I believe physical inactivity has become the greatest public health problem of our time and finding a way to get patients more active is absolutely critical to improving health and longevity in the 21st century.

The beneficial relationship between exercise and . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Khan, K M (2009). Mid-year review: physical inactivity universally accepted as the biggest public health problem of the 21st century, shoulder exam challenges, and progress against the scourges of anterior knee pain and ACL injuries. Br. J. Sports. Med. 43: 469-470 [Full Text]  
• Khan, K M, Scott, A (2009). Mechanotherapy: how physical therapists' prescription of exercise promotes tissue repair. Br. J. Sports. Med. 43: 247-252 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bauman, A, Murphy, N, Lane, A (2009). The role of community programmes and mass events in promoting physical activity to patients. Br. J. Sports. Med. 43: 44-46 [Abstract] [Full Text]