Look at physical activity as an opportunity, not an inconvenience
Research presented over the past ten years increasingly shows that physical inactivity is a major public health issue throughout the western world including Australia.
The annual direct health care cost to Australia of physical inactivity is over $350 million per year i . It is now clear that physical inactivity has become the second leading contributor, behind tobacco, to the burden of disease in Australia and is the leading contributor among Australian women ii.
Physical activity is an important preventative strategy for coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, some cancers and other chronic diseases. Currently only 59% of Western Australians are sufficiently active to gain a health benefit, with 12% being classified as inactive iii.
With some benefits being realised by activating the completely sedentary, and many benefits achieved by participation in moderate activity levels such as 'around half an hour of moderate intensity activity on most days of the week' (USSG 1996, Bauman and Egger 2000) iv .
[i] Mathers, C., and Penm, R. (1999). Health system costs of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in Australia 1993-94. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. AIHW cat No. HWE 11, Canberra.
[ii] Armstrong, T., Bauman, A. and Davies, J. (2000). Physical activity patterns of Australian adults. results of the 1999 national physical activity survey. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: AIHW Cat No. CVD 10, Canberra.
[iii]
Milligan, R., McCormack, G. R., Rosenberg, M. (2007). Physical Activity Levels of Western Australian Adults 2006: Results from the Adult Physical Activity Study. Perth, Western Australia: Western Australian Government.
[iv] Stephenson, J., Bauman, A., Armstrong, T., Smith, B. and Bellew, B. (2000). The cost of illness attributable to physical inactivity in Australia: a preliminary study. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care and the Australian Sports Commission