There’s an intriguing new study out of Australia (University of Queensland) this week. They studied six types of interventions to encourage physical activity in adults, the two most cost-effective were:
- pedometers
- mass media campaigns
I liked the editors’ summary (pdf), which contained this opener:
The human body needs regular physical activity throughout life to stay healthy. Physical activityany bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that uses energyhelps to maintain a healthy body weight and to prevent or delay heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, and breast cancer. In addition, physically active people feel better and live longer than physically inactive people. For an adult, 30 minutes of moderate physical activitywalking briskly, gardening, swimming, or cyclingat least five times a week is sufficient to promote and maintain health. But at least 60% of the worlds population does not do even this modest amount of physical activity.
The daily lives of people in both developed and developing countries are becoming increasingly sedentary. People are sitting at desks all day instead of doing manual labor; they are driving to work in cars instead of walking or cycling; and they are participating less in physical activities during their leisure time.