Review of the Role of Exercise in Improving Quality of Life in Healthy Individuals and in Those With Chronic Diseases

摘要

Today, a Google search for "exercise, health," will yield more than 84 million hits. The effective dissemination of this knowledge makes it safe to say that in the year 2011, few, if any, Americans are unaware of the health benefits of an active lifestyle. Yet, despite the wide availability of such knowledge, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that from the period of January to June 2009, only 35% of U.S. adults aged 18 yr and older engaged in regular leisure time activity (3). Perhaps equally troubling is the estimate that only 40% of physicians engage in counseling their patients on the need for physical activity (34).