Physical inactivity causes a tremendous burden of disease and death. Researchers commissioned by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports coined the phrase 'Sedentary Death Syndrome.'o And no wonder. In 2000, the Journal of Applied Physiology reported that approximately "250,000 deaths per year in the United States are premature due to physical inactivity."
The Active Living by Design program indicates that "34% of coronary heart disease deaths can be attributed to physical inactivity; physically inactive adults are nearly twice as likely than those who are active to have coronary heart disease." A study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise reports: "Sedentary living is responsible for about one-third of deaths due to coronary heart disease, colon cancer, and diabetes." And according to an article in The New England Journal of Medicine, the risk of death among the least fit is four times greater than it is among the most fit.
What About The Harvard Study?
In 2004, a study conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health claimed that physical activity does not negate the adverse health effects associated with obesity. Of this study's many flaws, one stands out: its measurement of exercise. The authors accounted only for running, jogging, walking (outside, but not on a treadmill), biking, swimming laps (but not swimming in a lake or the ocean), calisthenics (rowing counts, but not yoga), tennis, and squash and racquetball.
Perhaps they had never heard of basketball or other team sports, not to mention yard work, work-related exercise, or any of the other physical activities that are part of our daily lives. And considering that the study's data were collected from more than 116,000 nurses, you might think the authors would have included the often strenuous activities associated with the nursing profession.
According to the American Cancer Society, "[s]urveys that ignore occupational activity may underestimate activity for some population groups that report little or no leisure-time activity."
In 2004, a study conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health claimed that physical activity does not negate the adverse health effects associated with obesity. Of this study's many flaws, one stands out: its measurement of exercise. The authors accounted only for running, jogging, walking (outside, but not on a treadmill), biking, swimming laps (but not swimming in a lake or the ocean), calisthenics (rowing counts, but not yoga), tennis, and squash and racquetball.
Perhaps they had never heard of basketball or other team sports, not to mention yard work, work-related exercise, or any of the other physical activities that are part of our daily lives. And considering that the study's data were collected from more than 116,000 nurses, you might think the authors would have included the often strenuous activities associated with the nursing profession.
According to the American Cancer Society, "[s]urveys that ignore occupational activity may underestimate activity for some population groups that report little or no leisure-time activity."
