Physical Activity

“The body achieves what the mind believes.”

Physical activity: is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. People who are insufficiently active have a 20% to 30% increased risk of death compared to people who are sufficiently active.

Regular physical activity can:

• improve muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness;
• improve bone and functional #health;
• reduce the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, various types of cancer (including breast cancer and colon cancer), and depression;
• reduce the risk of falls as well as hip or vertebral fractures; and?
• help maintain a healthy body weight.

Physical activity confers the following maternal and fetal #health benefits: a decreased risk of: pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes (for example 30% reduction in risk) , excessive gestational weight gain, delivery complications postpartum depression, newborn complications.

#health risks of sedentary behavior

Lives are becoming increasingly sedentary, through the use of motorized transport and the increased use of screens for work, education and recreation.

In children and adolescents:?

• increased adiposity (weight gain)
• poorer cardiometabolic #health , #fitness , behavioral conduct/prosocial behavior
• reduced sleep duration

In adults:

• all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer mortality
• incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer and type-2 diabetes.?