Physical Activity Facts

**(Citation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The following
facts are based on information from publications prepared by agencies
and offices of the Department of Health and Human Services: the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Center for Health
Statistics; the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States
(Physical Activity and Health, 1996; Call to Action to Prevent and
Decrease Overweight and Obesity, 2001), and the Office of Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion (Healthy People 2010).**

-   Adults 18 and older need 30 minutes of physical activity on five or
    more days a week to be healthy; children and teens need 60 minutes
    of activity a day for their health.

-   Significant health benefits can be obtained by including a moderate
    amount of physical activity (e.g., 30 minutes of brisk walking or
    raking leaves, 15 minutes of running, 45 minutes of playing
    volleyball). Additional health benefits can be gained through
    greater amounts of physical activity.

-   Thirty to sixty minutes of activity broken into smaller segments of
    10 or 15 minutes throughout the day has significant health benefits.

-   Moderate daily physical activity can reduce substantially the risk
    of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes,
    and certain cancers, such as colon cancer. Daily physical activity
    helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, helps prevent or
    retard osteoporosis, and helps reduce obesity, symptoms of anxiety
    and depression, and symptoms of arthritis.

-   Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men and women in
    the United States. Physically inactive people are twice as likely to
    develop coronary heart disease as regularly active people.

-   37% of adults report they are not physically active. Only 3 in 10
    adults get the recommended amount of physical activity.

-   Poor diet and inactivity can lead to overweight/obesity. Persons who
    are overweight or obese are at increased risk for high blood
    pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke,
    gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory
    problems and some types of cancer.

-   41 million Americans are estimated to have pre-diabetes. Most people
    with pre-diabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years, unless
    they make changes to their diet and physical activity that results
    in a loss of about 5-7 percent of their body weight.

-   Obesity continues to climb among American adults. Nearly 60 million
    Americans are obese. More than 108 million adults are either obese
    or overweight. That means roughly 3 out of 5 Americans carry an
    unhealthy amount of excess weight.

-   The percentage of adults in the United States who were overweight or
    obese (body mass index greater than or equal to 25) in 1999-2002 was
    65 percent. Overweight and obesity cuts across all ages, racial and
    ethnic groups, and both genders. A new study in the Netherlands
    found that excess weight cuts years off your life.

-   16 percent of children and teens aged 6 to 19 were overweight in
    1999-2002, triple the proportion in 1980. Fifteen-percent of
    children in the same age group are considered at-risk for
    overweight. The percentage of overweight African American, Hispanic,
    and Native American children is about 20%.

-   More than 10 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 5 are
    overweight, double the proportion since 1980.

-   Health risks associated with being overweight or obese include type
    2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma,
    arthritis.

-   The major barriers most people face when trying to increase physical
    activity are time, access to convenient facilities, and safe
    environments in which to be active.

-   School and worksite interventions have been shown to be successful
    in increasing physical activity levels.

-   Type 2 diabetes, once called \"adult onset\" diabetes, high blood
    pressure, and high cholesterol, once thought to be age-related, are
    now diagnosed in children and teens.

-   Physical activity among children and adolescents is important
    because of the related health benefits (cardio-respiratory function,
    blood pressure control, weight management, cognitive and emotional
    benefits).

-   According to a study done by the National Association of Sports and
    Physical Education (NASPE), infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers
    should engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily and
    should not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time except
    when sleeping.

-   One quarter of U.S. children spend 4 hours or more watching
    television daily.

-   Young people are at particular risk for becoming sedentary as they
    grow older. Encouraging moderate and vigorous physical activity
    among youth is important. Because children spend most of their time
    in school, the type and amount of physical activity encouraged in
    schools is important.

-   Only 25 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 engaged in
    moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes on 5 or more of
    the previous 7 days in 2003.

-   Only 28 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 participated in
    daily school physical education in 2003, down from 42 percent in
    1991.