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Physical Inactivity

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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

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Definition

Physical inactivity is the failure to meet the minimum recommended physical activity guidelines (i.e., 30-min moderate-intensity exercise on at least 5, although preferably all, days of the week or 75-min vigorous-intensity exercise to be undertaken in no less than 20-min increments thrice a week). Physical inactivity is one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 12 leading risks to health. Physical inactivity is widespread and associated with increases in all causes of mortality and is an independent risk factor for chronic diseases.

Physical inactivity differs from sedentary behavior (e.g., sitting and not moving); physical inactivity refers to not meeting the aforementioned guidelines.

Description

Prevalence

The American Heart Association estimates that 60% of the world population does not meet recommended physical activity guidelines (American Heart Association, 2001). The American Centre for Disease Control (CDC) estimates 25% of adults are not active at all.

Risk...

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References and Readings

  • American Heart Association (2009). Physical inactivity. Available at americanheart.org. Accessed December 8, 2010.

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  • Healey, J. (2007). Physical activity. Thirroul, N.S.W: Spinney Press.

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  • Taylor, S. E. (2009). Health psychology (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. International Edition.

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  • World Health Organization (2011a). Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. Available at http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/pa/en/index.html. Accessed January 8, 2011.

  • World Health Organization (2011b). Physical activity. Available at: http://www.who.int/topics/physical_activity/en/. Accessed January 8, 2011.

  • Fletcher, G. F., Balady, G. J., Amsterdam, E. A., et al. (2001). Exercise standards for testing and training: a statement for healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 104:1694–1740.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Brennan MacCallum Building (A18), 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Tyler Clark

Authors
  1. Tyler Clark
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tyler Clark .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc D. Gellman

  2. Cardiovascular Safety, Quintiles, Durham, NC, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York

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Clark, T. (2013). Physical Inactivity. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1168

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1168

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9

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