Healthy Hearts—and the Universal Benefits of Being Physically Active: Physical Activity and Health
Section snippets
Beginning Physical Activity Epidemiology
When one of us (J.N.M.) in 1948 began to study the epidemiology of the “modern epidemic”—as it was already being called—of coronary heart disease, the only hunch we had was that it could be related to occupation. It was more common in men than in women and as middle age advanced. There was the observation by Osler, the master modern physician, and some indications in national mortality statistics, that occupation could be significant. Comparable data on morbidity were not available. So we
Professor Ralph S. Paffenbarger's Contributions
Following the work on occupational physical activity and CHD in Britain, Ralph Paffenbarger began two epidemiological investigations in the United States to evaluate the relation of physical activity to health. He established two cohorts—one of occupational activity in San Francisco Bay Longshoremen (10) and the second a follow-up of male graduates of Harvard College (11)—to evaluate the effect of leisure-time physical activity on various health outcomes. “Paff” often used to say that it would
Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Health
Although the early work showed a consistent pattern of benefits for physical activity, the studies did not assess actual fitness. A potential benefit of evaluating cardiorespiratory fitness is that it is an objective laboratory test and is perhaps a more accurate indication of recent physical activity habits than information provided by job classifications or self-reports of physical activity. Of course, there is a genetic component of fitness, just like everything else we might measure in
Universal Health Benefits of Regular Exercise?
There has been mounting evidence over the past 50 years of the importance of adequate exercise in maintaining cardiovascular health and preventing disease. In recent years the list of beneficial effects across the body's physiological functions, including blood pressure and lipids, and physical and social capabilities has continued to grow. It is also becoming clear that people who exercise adequately are less likely to develop stroke (5), some forms of cancer (20), type 2 diabetes (21),
Recognition of Physical Inactivity as a Major Public Health Issue
The early research reported herein on physical inactivity and health eventually attracted the attention of the public health and clinical medicine communities. Exercise recommendations for use in clinical practice and public health began to emerge in the 1970’s, with the early focus primarily on vigorous, sustained aerobic exercise (25). As additional research in both epidemiology and controlled experiments emerged, it became clear that moderate amounts and intensities of physical activity also
Summary
Increasing mechanization at work and getting about, more attractive sedentary options for leisure time, and the engineering of energy expenditure out of daily life combine to reduce the volume of physical activity and increase the amount of sitting for the majority in modern society. We now have ample evidence that these conditions constitute a major threat to the health of individuals and the overall public health, contributing substantially today, for example, to the obesity crisis. There has
References (29)
- et al.
Coronary heart-disease and physical activity of work
Lancet
(1953) - et al.
Vigorous exercise in leisure-time: protection against coronary heart disease
Lancet
(1980) - et al.
Cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in men
Am J Clin Nutr
(1999) - Boyd JP, Cullen CT, Catanzariti J, Oberg BB eds. The papers of Thomas Jefferson. Princeton, Princeton University Press;...
Susruta of India, an unrecognized contributor to the history of exercise physiology
J Appl Physiol
(2008)Physical activity vs. heart-attack: a modern epidemic. Personal observations
- et al.
Waging war on modern chronic diseases: primary prevention through exercise biology
J Appl Physiol
(2000) - et al.
Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work; evidence of a national necropsy survey
Br Med J
(1958) - et al.
Exercise in leisure time: coronary attack and death rates
Br Heart J
(1990)
Work activity of longshoremen as related to death from coronary heart disease and stroke
N Engl J Med
Physical activity as an index of heart attack risk in college alumni
Am J Epidemiol
Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni
N Engl J Med
Physical fitness and cardiovascular disease mortality. The US Railroad Study
Am J Epidemiol
Cited by (326)
Temperature, health and wellbeing in Australia
2023, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental EconomicsWorkload and sex effects in comprehensive assessment of cutaneous microcirculation
2023, Microvascular ResearchAcute impact of aerobic exercise on local cutaneous thermal hyperaemia
2023, Microvascular ResearchEffects of early-life voluntary exercise and fructose on adult activity levels, body composition, aerobic capacity, and organ masses in mice bred for high voluntary wheel-running behavior
2023, Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease