Research into our topic.

Key facts Adults

Adults were asked to recall how much physical activity they had done over the previous four weeks. Based on this self-report survey, 39 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women aged 16 and over met the Chief Medical Officer's (CMO) minimum recommendations for physical activity. These are that adults should be active at moderate or greater intensity for at least 30 minutes a day on at least five days a week (either in one session or through shorter bouts of activity of 10 minutes or longer). The percentages of both men and women who met these recommendations generally decreased with age. A sub-sample of adults then wore a device called an accelerometer for a week following the survey; this device provides an objective measure of physical activity. Based on the week of accelerometry, only 6 per cent of men and 4 per cent of women met the CMO's recommendations for physical activity. Men and women aged 16-34 were most likely to have met the recommendations (11 per cent and 8 per cent respectively), and the percentages of both men and women meeting the recommendations were lower in the older age groups. Physical fitness in adults was measured using a step test. Men were found to be significantly fitter than women and, in both sexes, fitness decreased with age. Fitness was related to self-reported physical activity; average level of fitness decreased as self-reported activity level decreased.

Children
Based on self-report, a higher percentage of boys than girls aged 2-15 were classified as meeting the CMO's recommendations for physical activity (32 per cent and 24 per cent respectively). These recommendations are that children and young people should do a minimum of 60 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity each day. Overall, 95 per cent of boys and girls reported that they had participated in some kind of physical activity in the week prior to the survey. The average number of hours of physical activity in that week was greater for boys than for girls (10.0 and 8.7 respectively). There was a clear decrease with age in the number of girls meeting recommendations, from 35 per cent aged 2 to 12 per cent aged 14 (and no such pattern for boys). Based on accelerometry during a week after the survey, the proportions of boys and girls classified as meeting the CMO's recommendations were 33 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. While these overall proportions are similar using the two different methods of measurement, accelerometry indicates a larger differentiation between younger and older children than is apparent with selfreported data; for children aged 4-10, 51 per cent of boys and 34 per cent of girls had met the recommendations compared with 7 per cent of boys and no girls aged 11-15.

Health and lifestyle factors

For adults aged 16 and over, self-reported cigarette smoking prevalence was 24 per cent for men and 20 per cent for women. Prevalence did not vary significantly between the periods before and after the introduction of smoke free legislation in England on 1 July 2007. However, self-reported mean hours of exposure to others' smoke was significantly lower post-policy implementation and geometric mean cotinine levels in non-smokers also fell post 1 July 2007 (cotinine is a derivative of nicotine and, in self-reported non-smokers, levels of less than 15 ng/ml are indicative of exposure to other people's smoke). Between 1995 and 2008, the prevalence of obesity among boys aged 2-15 increased from 11 per cent to 17 per cent, and the equivalent increase for girls was from 12 per cent to 15 per cent. Among boys, the percentage who were obese has remained between 17 per cent and 19 per cent since 2002. Among girls, there was a significant decrease in obesity between 2005 and 2006 (from 19 per cent to 15 per cent), and levels have been similar from 2006 to 2008. Future HSE data will be important in confirming whether the overall trend in obesity is flattening or whether the longer term trend is still gradually increasing. Taken from: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse08physicalactivity 1. More Than a Few. The human body has more then 650 muscles. 2. Stronger by a Hair. Each muscle fiber is thinner than a hair and can support up to 1,000 times its own weight. 3. Where Did the Strength Go? By the age of 65, individuals who haven't engaged in exercise on a regular basis may incur a decrease in their muscular strength by as much as 80 percent. 4. Keep On Running. About 42% of the more than 10,000 runners who finished the 1989 New York Marathon were over the age of 40. Of these, 56 runners were over 70-years-old. The oldest finisher of the race- in 6 hours and 43 minutes- was 91-years-old. 5. Lite Stuff. Your lungs are light enough to float on water. 6. Almost as Fast as a Speeding Bullet. It takes only about 23 seconds for blood to circulate throughout your entire body. 7. On the Go. Between birth and old age, you will walk about 70,000 miles. Walking is one of the best activities you can do to keep your heart-lung complex in good working condition.

8. Exercise as a Drug. Aerobic exercise is one of the best preventative medicines available and one of the cheapest.

9. A Matter of Gender. All factors considered, several cardiovascular-related, physiological differences exist between men and women-- most of which place women at a disadvantage in aerobic endurance activities. 10. Smart Jocks. People with more education tend to be more physically active. 11. Smaller than a Breadbox. The heart is a hollow, muscular organ that is roughly the size of a man's fist, averaging approximately 5 inches in length, 3.5 inches in width, and 2.5 inches in thickness. It weighs about 10.5 ounces in the male and 8.75 ounces in the female. 12. Can You Spare a Part? Although you can't just go to a human spare-parts store to buy a new replacement body part, organ transplants take every day. The cost of a transplant to replace either your heart or lung would be approximately $100,000 each. 13. On and On and On... Placed end to end, the blood vessels in your body would stretch almost three times around the equator. 14. Talk is cheap. If you can't carry on a conversation while you're exercising, you may be training too hard. 15. Keep on Exercising. Consistent exercise teaches your body how to be an efficient fat-burner, rather than a fat-storer. 16. No Thank You, I'm Full. If you are 25 pounds overweight, you have nearly 5,000 extra miles of blood vessels through which your heart must pump blood. 17. Hit What You Aim For. Muscle is the primary target organ of aerobic training. The effects of aerobic training on muscle involves the use of oxygen as it relates to energy production. 18. Heart Healthy. Research shows that cardiac rehab programs that include exercise reduce risk of death by 20 percent. 19. Safety Valves. When you stand up, if you didn't have valves in your veins, all the blood in your body would literally fall downward, filling up your legs and feet. 20. Lung Power. Aerobic training improves the condition and efficiency of your breathing muscles so that your body can utilize more lung capacity during exercise. Taken from: http://www.clubs.psu.edu/FitnessPrograms/fitfacts.htm

Statistics from the most recent large-scale survey in the UK shockingly reveal that 25 percent of boys and 33 percent of girls aged between two and 19 years are overweight or obese and theres little sign the incidence is slowing. Obesity currently costs the country around 2 billion annually and shortens lives by nine years, due to the associated health problems. Some health experts even believe well soon see parents outliving their children. Equally worrying is the fact that parents are getting so used to seeing overweight kids, they dont recognise their own children are obese. Last year, a study from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, revealed that: three quarters of parents failed to recognise their child was overweight. 33 percent of mums and 57 percent of dads considered their childs weight to be about right when, in fact, they were obese. one in ten parents expressed some concern about their child being underweight when they were actually a normal, healthy weight. http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/children/childhood_obesity.htm