Recently Sports Medicine Australia (SMA) and the Australian Association for Exercise and Sport Science (AAESS) developed guidelines for pre-exercise screening and supervision of fitness testing, based on the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) system. The procedure involves classifying individuals into one of three risk groups (apparently healthy, at higher ...

This study examined social cognitive and physical health factors that might explain variations in exercise adherence in a 3-month supervised exercise intervention for a group of mildly symptomatic, HIV-1 seropositive men and women. The social cognitive predictor variables were outcome expectations and self-efficacy. The physical health predictor variables included CD4+ ...

The disability-adjusted life year (DALY) has emerged in the international health policy lexicon as a new measure of the 'burden of disease'. We argue that the conceptual and technical basis for DALYs is flawed, and its assumptions and value judgements are open to serious question. In particular, the implications of ...

BACKGROUND: Increasing leisure time physical exercise is a major target of public health programs throughout the developed world, but few international comparisons of exercise habits among people from diverse cultures have been published. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of exercise among young adults from 21 ...

Introduction. The antihypertensive effect of physical exercise had been well recognized by 1990, and exercise was recommended in a World Health Organization Bulletin in 1991 [1]. The recommendation was subsequently adopted in the USA Joint National Committee's report of 1993 [2] and also in the guidelines for the management of ...

Regular physical activity is an important component of a healthy life at all ages, and mounting scientific evidence has linked exercise to a wide array of physical and mental health benefits. This article will highlight some recent advances in knowledge. It will explore common myths that discourage the largely sedentary ...

BACKGROUND: This qualitative study was part of a broader randomized controlled trial which showed that written exercise advice (green prescription) from a general practitioner (GP) increased physical activity levels among sedentary patients more than verbal advice alone over a 6-week period. AIM: To assess the attitudes and perceptions of GPs ...

An observation one can make when reviewing the literature on physical activity is that health-enhancing exercise habits tend to wear off as soon as individuals enter adolescence. Therefore, exercise habits should be promoted and preserved early in life. This article focuses on the formation of physical exercise habits. First, the ...

OBJECTIVE: To culturally adapt and translate for use in French- and English-speaking areas of Canada the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), a carefully developed and standardized measure that is useful for assessing the outcomes for care. DESIGN: For the Canadian French version, the methods involved forward and ...

Exercise and diet are the cornerstones of management of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Many older people have difficulty in exercising, missing benefits on glycaemic control, weight, cardiac disease and mood. We report the outcomes of a 6 month structured exercise and support programme based on a health promotion model, on ...

The study explored the relationship of diet, exercise, disability status, and degree of social integration to Body Mass Index, an indicator of excess weight and health status. Subjects were adults with Down syndrome living at home with their families. Variables included a 110-item nutritional analysis and assessments of family demographics, ...

Using a telephone survey, this study investigated participation in exercise, the reasons for exercising, and the role of health and fitness facilities in promoting regular exercise. For the sample of 450 adults living in southern New York State and having an annual household income of at least $50,000, in contrast ...

College students (N = 432) completed questionnaires assessing current exercise participation, intention to become more active, perceived benefits of exercise, and perceived barriers to exercise. Confirmatory factor analyses of the benefit and barrier items suggested that a model containing 4 benefit factors (social, psychological, body image, and health) and 4 ...

Most lifetime morbidity is concentrated in the later years as a consequence of increasing amounts of chronic illness and senescent changes. An ideal society would reduce this large illness burden by focusing upon increasing the incident age of first infirmity and compressing lifetime morbidity between that point and the average ...

Although the importance of exercise as a public health issue is increasingly recognised, little attention has been paid to exercise in very old people. We examined exercise patterns in 1788 subjects aged 70 years and over who were participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing. In the two weeks ...

In recent years health promotion programs have generated many worthwhile psychologic and physiologic benefits but frequently with less than optimal long-term adherence. Incorporating approaches such as mind-body exercise with existing health promotion and cardiac rehabilitation services can improve self-efficacy and long-term adherence to healthy behaviors as well as improve personal ...

Exercise is a key factor in the prevention of many chronic conditions. There are gaps in the research pertaining to social roles, daily hassles women experience, and exercise participation. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the effects of daily hassles, age, and race on regular physical activity ...

A synopsis of the effects of exercise on the circadian system in nocturnal rodents is followed by a review of the few studies investigating the influence of exercise on the human circadian system. It is premature to make specific recommendations about using exercise to promote synchronization in people because of ...

The Curaçao Health Study was carried out among a randomized sample (n = 2248, response rate = 85%) of the adult non-institutionalized population in order to assess aspects of lifestyle that may pose health risks. Factors examined were tobacco and alcohol use, eating habits and exercise behaviour. Outcome variables were ...

The potential health benefits derived from sustained physical activity in older people are numerous; however, whether exercise promotion should take place in general practice is unsubstantiated. Exercise promotion should use existing research evidence of the advantages of exercise for various conditions, and target those inactive individuals who currently have no ...

The sufficiency of the dietary protein allowances recommended by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan for various physical exercises has not been examined. We investigated the protein requirement for moderate-intensity physical exercise using nitrogen balance in the isoenergetic state. Seventeen healthy college students exercised for 10 days with ...

A system is a functionally related group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole with a common aim. This article presents a method--a 10-step exercise--for building knowledge of the elements of an interdependent system of health care. Those who seek to improve the work of a system ...

Graduate nursing students in a required course on concepts and processes of health and healing had the option to do an experiment in self-care. Included were exercises related to biofeedback, aesthetics, diet/nutrition, dreams, ethnicity, fairytales, values, physical exercise, ultradian rhythms, journaling, and a self-care practice of choice. Feedback on the ...

Aims to explore and examine the meanings attached to two general practitioner prescribed exercise schemes in London. A total of 13 interviewees were recruited in two leisure centres in the borough of Lewisham and asked about their perceptions of the exercise scheme in which they were participating. The ages of ...

We have previously presented the generalized eigensystem (GES) approach as an alternative to truncated singular value decomposition and zero order Tikhonov regularization methods for the ill-conditioned inverse problem of electrocardiography. In this paper we extend our comparison of GES with Tikhonov regularization utilizing higher order regularizers applied to a realistic ...

BACKGROUND: Clinical and demographic variables are poor predictors of treatment adherence. This study therefore examined the relationships between the patients' perception of their cystic fibrosis and their reported adherence to physiotherapy, exercise, pancreatic enzyme and vitamin therapies. METHODS: Sixty adults with cystic fibrosis completed the Health Perception Scale, Health Locus ...

Constipation is a common complaint in older patients. Contributing factors are impaired general health, use of medications, and decreased mobility and physical activity. Diet has an indeterminate effect. Many patients become gradually more constipated with age and self-treat with over-the-counter laxatives. Investigation is warranted if defecation is associated with pain ...

The Defense Women's Health Research Initiative commissioned a review of the literature of women's health issues. This was performed and published by the Institute of Medicine. In this publication it was noted that health promotion and disease prevention in women should be an area of high priority for military medicine. ...

The HERITAGE (HEalth, RIsk factors, exercise Training And GEnetics) Family Study is the first multicenter family clinical trial of its kind. Conducted by a consortium of five universities in the United States and Canada, the study has as its primary goal to document the role of the genotype in the ...

Statistics, an independent study, and anecdotal reports are documenting the health benefits of regular exercise for older adults living at the McAuley Center, a continuing care retirement community in West Hartford, CT. As part of its commitment to holistic health, the center links residents with an on-site fitness counselor, who ...

The Poswillo Report, published in 1990, made recommendations regarding general anaesthesia (GA), sedation and resuscitation in dentistry. The aims of the present study were to examine the level of provision of GA and sedation by general dental practitioners (GDPs) a few years after the publication of the report, and to ...

PURPOSE: To assess organizational and employee participation during three community-wide worksite exercise competitions in two communities. DESIGN: A one-group, posttest-only design was used. Lack of controls, exercise baseline, and the short-term nature of the interventions were limitations. SETTING: The Minnesota Heart Health Program conducted annual exercise campaigns between 1982 and ...

Group Health Cooperative, following the lead of the American Heart Association (AHA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), has identified inactivity as one of the most significant risk factors for the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD). This paper reports on the ...

For the person with arthritis, the consequences of prolonged inactivity add measurably, and unnecessarily, to disease-related impairments, functional limitation, and disability. Inadequate levels of regular physical activity also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. This article reviews the benefits of regular physical activity for general health ...

This research examines relationships between different forms of aerobic exercise (swim, walk, jog, dance) and two measures of health: subjective health and psychological well-being. We hypothesize that the relationship between aerobic exercise and subjective health/well-being will be notably stronger for older than younger persons and females than males. This prediction ...

Responses to a questionnaire by 497 women on their exercise, nutrition, and health habits were studied. Analysis showed respondents were well educated and represented a wide age range. The majority exercised at least 3 times a week for at least half an hour per session. Slightly more than half had ...

The Healthy People 2000 Goal 1.12 was designed to increase to 50% the number of primary care physicians who regularly counsel their patients concerning the appropriate frequency, duration, type and intensity of exercise. To assess the overall progress in relation to this goal, a survey of 212 physicians was conducted ...

A sedentary lifestyle is prevalent in most industrialised societies. Persuasive evidence allows us to demonstrate that a physically active lifestyle protects against the development and progression of many chronic diseases. The assessment of sedentary individuals for the purpose of exercise testing and or exercise prescription should always culminate in the ...

OBJECTIVE: To explore a possible explanation for the problem of why few people exercise despite the positive health advantages, by examining the relationship between exercise beliefs and participation in exercise activities. METHODS: Eighty-one respondents aged 27-80 were recruited from 3 Chicago-area health care facilities to complete the study survey; 68 ...

The National Guard has begun a series of medical exercises designed to bring health-related services to underserved Americans. This paper reviews the origins of the program, its philosophy, organization, goals, and procedures. With an increasing emphasis on the use of the military in support of the civilian sector for the ...

The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the perceived benefits of and barriers to exercise of a convenience sample of older African American women in senior citizen centers in an urban area in the mid-South. This descriptive study utilized a convenience sample of older African American women over ...

1. Some researchers have stated that the perception of fitness and health may be a better predictor of psychological improvements than actual cardiovascular fitness. 2. It appears reasonable to encourage patients in psychotherapy to participate in a regular exercise program. 3. Adjunct treatments such as exercise may become increasingly important ...

There is now little doubt that a lifestyle lacking in exercise can contribute to the development of heart disease. There have been many local and national initiatives to promote exercise and its relation to health and well-being, many linked to the targets set out in The Health of the Nation ...

Physicians need to become committed to promoting the preventive benefits of regular physical activity. Practical strategies can help physicians efficiently and effectively incorporate exercise counseling into their practices. These strategies include regularly asking about leisure activity and linking the agenda of an office visit to the benefits of exercise. The ...

During the post-World War II period, the United States has had a low rate of household saving compared with other developed countries. The latest saving rate remains close to an historically low level, slightly over 4 percent of personal disposable income. This rate is about half that recorded between 1980 ...

An adequately functioning musculoskeletal system is a key factor for functional capacity, independence, and good quality of life. Impaired functional capacity and degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal organs are one of the most prevalent and increasing sources of morbidity and suffering. Physical activity positively influences most structural components of the ...

This paper examines the social attitudes and expectations that limit women's freedom to move in the world. The history of gendered attitudes to exercise, current gendered differences in patterns of exercise and issues of body image and ageing are discussed. The importance of these issues when considering exercise as a ...

BACKGROUND: Although there is a plethora of literature about osteoporosis, little is known about the attitudinal variables that may predict osteoporosis-preventive behaviors (OPBs) among postmenopausal women. This study examined the relationship between variables from the Health Promotion Model (HPM) and OPBs of calcium intake, exercise participation, and taking of estrogen/hormone ...

The antecedents and consequences of four markers of physical activity and exercise are examined for the 6,780 baseline self-respondents to the Longitudinal Study on Aging. These dichotomous markers reflect having a level of physical activity greater than one's peers (45.8%), getting as much exercise as needed (58.9%), having a regular ...

The public health initiative to increase women's participation in regular recreational exercise to the 90% level raises multiple theoretic concerns about its impact on the reproductive health of women. However, at all points in a woman's life the overall effect of regular exercise to appetite appears to be beneficial rather ...