Exercise is Medicine
Physical inactivity is a significant public health problem as it contributes to a variety of chronic diseases and health complications, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, depression and anxiety, arthritis, and osteoporosis. In addition to improving a patient’s overall health, increasing physical activity has proven effective in the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases. Unfortunately, a relatively small percentage of the public gets the recommended amount of physical activity. The "Exercise is Medicine" campaign, launched by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), represents a systematic effort to legitimize the importance of exercise within the medical and public health communities.The guiding principles are below:
- Exercise and physical activity are important to health and the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases.
- More should be done to address physical activity and exercise in health care settings.
- Encouragement of ACSM’s effort to bring a greater focus on physical activity and exercise in health care settings.
Other great resources
Active Living Research is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Their primary goal is to support and share research on environmental and policy strategies that can promote daily physical activity for children and families across the United States. They place special emphasis on research related to children of color and lower-income children who are at highest risk for obesity.
Click here to see whats being done around the U.S. to promote daily exercise
Click here to see whats being done around the U.S. to promote daily exercise
