Physical exercise is good and this is nothing new.
In Ancient Greece, Hippocrates (460-370 BC), considered one of the fathers of Western medicine, already gave an important role to physical activity due to its benefits for body care and health, recommending it for both prevention and treatment. disease treatment. Since then, scientific evidence has been accumulating that supports what the Greeks already thought 2.500 years ago: the importance of cultivating the body for good health.
In the 1950s, a study was carried out on physical activity and health in the workplace (Morris et al., 1953) and it was seen that bus drivers died more from cardiovascular risk factors than those who were from top to bottom earning the tickets.
Later, in one of the most important studies in this area, Paffenbarger and his team followed almost 20.000 people for much of their lives and deduced that being physically active reduces between 3 and 4 times the probability of death or illness from any cause (Paffenbarger et al., 1986).
In the adult population, physical activity has multiple benefits by reducing the risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, back pain, and colon and breast cancer (Davies et al., 2019).
On the other hand, the lack of physical exercise not only has consequences for individual health, but also represents an economic burden for health systems.
In a report by the Center for Economic and Business Research, it was estimated that physical inactivity represents a cost to the EU-28 equivalent to 6.2% of all European health spending. The positive aspect is that cutting inactivity by a fifth would know Europe €16.1 billion per year (Centre for Economics and Business Research, 2020).
Therefore, the promotion of physical activity not only implies an improvement in the quality of life of citizens but also causes significant health economic savings.
Bibliographic references:
[1] Centre for Economics and Business Research. (2020). The Economic Cost of Physical Inactivity in Europe (Issue June). ttps://doi.org/10.5040/9781492595731.ch-014
[2] Davies, D. S. C., Atherton, F., McBride, M., & Calderwood, C. (2019). UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines. Department of Health and Social Care, September, 1–65. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/physical-activity-guidelines-uk-chief-medical-officers-report
[3] Morris, J. N., Heady, J. A., Raffle, P. A. B., Roberts, C. G., & Parks, J. W. (1953). CORONARY HEART-DISEASE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF WORK. The Lancet, 262(6796), 1111–1120. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(53)91495-0
[4] Paffenbarger, R. S., Hyde, R., Wing, A. L., & Hsieh, C. C. (1986). Physical Activity, All-Cause Mortality, and Longevity of College Alumni. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198603063141003
