Editorial
Authors: Bernardo-Filho Mario 
Published: May 2021

There is consistent and strong scientific evidenceabout the numerous health benefits related to thephysical activity (PA). Regular PA can improve physicalfitness and health and assist in the prevention of variousdiseases. In general, physically active adults are healthierand present higher physical performance in comparisonwith inactive adults worldwide. Among some desirablebehaviors, PA can be considered as part of a healthy lifestyleand can be categorized into occupational, sports,conditioning, household, or other activities involvingmovement of the body generated by skeletal muscleswith energy expenditure. Aligned with that, it is undeniablethe relevance of the physical inactivity as a riskfactor for premature mortality and for cardiovasculardisease and a variety of other chronic diseases, includingdiabetes mellitus, cancer (colon and breast), obesity,hypertension, bone and joint diseases (osteoporosis andosteoarthritis), and depression. Moreover, exercise inpatients with hematologic cancer, like leukemia, couldimprove immune function.Due to the relevance of the PA, it is important to stimulatebehaviors involving the physical practice. There areseveral factors that can influence these behaviors, suchas: personal (biological, health and psychological attributes),social (family, affiliation group, and work factors),and environmental (contexts for different forms of PAand policy factors that could determine availability ofrelevant settings and opportunities).The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID--19) has interfered in different factors of the PA behaviors.Depending of the severity of the COVID-19 inan individual, there are limitations to performed PA.Furthermore, aiming to contain the COVID-19 infectionsand to reduce interaction between infected andnon-infected individuals, strategies and restrictivepolicies have been suggested, such as quarantine, localconfinement, lockdown and isolation. It is clear that,while the individuals are confined at home the levelof PA, in general, decreases, due to the reduction of (i)daily activities outside, (ii) the participation in socialevents and, (iii) sometimes, of laboral activities. Thismay have a negative impact in general heath becauseit can contribute to sedentary behaviors. Besides theconfinement, it is important to consider other actionsto protect against the COVID-19 infection that is theuniversal use of masks.In addition to those facts, as an environmental factor,in confinement, the sunlight exposure is reduced.The relevance of the ultraviolet B radiation present insunlight to the active production of vitamin D in theorganisms is well known. This vitamin has a relevantrole to metabolic responses and protection againstdiseases, including cancer. Vitamin D deficiency hasbeen recognized as an undesirable global public healthproblem and it plays a wide role in health and in theprevention of several diseases, including the COVID-19.As the reduction of the muscle strength is observedin the individuals that had COVID-19, PA or exercisescould be important for their rehabilitation. There aredifferent modalities of exercises that could be also usedfor them, including the whole-body vibration exercisesto improve the muscular performance.Putting together, people in the world is living, or istrying to live, in conditions to maintain a minimal, butconvenient level of PA to have health to contercousethe bad situation of the COVID-19 up to a definitiveand confident vaccin be available to the human beings.The researchers are working hard to aid the worldpopulation to win this fight against the COVID-19 andthe sedentary behaviors.Naturally, COVID-19 and the sedentarism are problemsfor the world, but the continuous education aboutthe importance of PA, the studies about the effects ofmedications that can be used in the treatments of diseases,the control of use of drugs, as the pesticides, andthe discussion about the biological and legal aspects ofreprocessing of medical-hospital material are welcometo contribute to improve the health.