Physical activity and health

Abstract

Introduction Participation in physical activity is associated with significant benefits to health, most importantly in the prevention of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers (Bauman et al., 2002; United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 1996). In this chapter, we provide an overview of research on health-enhancing physical activity in adults. We provide brief examples of epidemiological studies on the relationships of physical activity to health outcomes: we also consider descriptive studies of adult populations on levels of participation. Our focus is on physical activity as a set of behaviours: we describe research findings on the ‘determinants’ o..