National Physical Activity Guidelines

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More Physical Activity Facts

Physical activity participation rates

• The 2006 Queensland Health Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey indicates that 47.5% of 18 - 75 year old Queenslanders were sufficiently active for health benefits. This was slightly higher than the national average of 46.1% and an improvement on 2001 and 2004 figures.

General

• Physical inactivity is a risk factor which can influence prevention outcomes in five of the six National Health Priority Areas: cardiovascular health, cancer control, injury prevention and control, mental health, and diabetes mellitus, and can influence management outcomes in all the national health priority areas including asthma.
• Physical activity is an issue that is a priority for many government departments, non-government and private organisations eg. commonwealth inter-government level, local government, sport and recreation, transport, education, health, fitness industry, heart foundation, private physical activity providers, tertiary institutions.

Burden of disease related to physical inactivity

• Overall, physical inactivity caused the greatest burden of disease for women (7.5%) and the second greatest burden of disease for men (6.0%) in Australia in 1996.
• Of the risk factors measured by the Burden of Disease study, physical inactivity (6.7%) ranks as the second highest cause of preventable death which equates to 8,000 deaths. Tobacco (9.7%) ranks the highest.

Target groups

• The 1999 Active Australia survey report indicates the following people are less likely to participate in physical activity: women; middle-aged people (45-59 years); lower educated people; the widowed; parents and obese people.
• Aboriginal Australians are less likely to be adequately physically active than non-aboriginal Australians (36.9% compared with 50.1%)
• Some non-English speaking groups are less likely to be physically active.
• People from low socio-economic groups are less likely to be active, as are people with disabilities.
• There is no reliable data on trends in physical activity in children and adolescents, however it is suspected that declines in physical activity in recent years are major contributors to the increasing levels of overweight and obesity in Australian children.

Barriers to participation in physical activity

• Major barriers to physical activity participation include: time (eg. competing priorities), emotional barriers (eg. safety and "no one to do it with"), lack of awareness about the amount of physical activity required, lack of knowledge about local options, lack of appropriate role models, a lack of programs for different ages and abilities, and concerns about safety. Lack of enjoyment was a common barrier for all population groups.

Costs

• The national annual direct health care cost attributable to physical inactivity for conditions such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, stroke, breast cancer and depressive disorders is conservatively estimated to be $377 million.

Queensland Health recommends that you consult with your medical practitioner prior to following these physical activity guidelines, particularly where you have been previously inactive, you have heart disease or close relatives with heart disease, you are pregnant or you have other major health problems.