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Featured Resource: Physical Activity and Health

Our Featured Resource article highlights books and other materials available from Human Kinetics, the information leader in physical activity. Human Kinetics produces books, DVDs, software, and ancillaries that help health and fitness professionals, academics, and consumers improve health and reach fitness goals. Of particular interest to Active Living Partners providers, Human Kinetics materials on health promotion, aging and physical activity, and recreation offer ideas for a variety of audiences and abilities. Visit www.HumanKinetics.com to preview other titles and resources.

Sedentary habits have been identified as a major public health problem in many countries. The timely Physical Activity and Health addresses an unmet need by providing a comprehensive treatment of the relationship between physical activity and health outcomes. Particularly if you have a responsibility of promoting physical activity as a way to combat disease and high health care costs in your organization, this text helps relate results from studies to the overall argument that physical activity has a positive impact on health.

“Conservative estimates indicate that obesity alone, not including overweight, accounts for 2% to 7% of total direct health care costs in developed countries (World Health Organization 1998). Indirect costs, which are far greater than the direct costs, include lost work days, disability pension, impaired quality of life, and premature mortality…cross-sectional data on the relationships between physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness level and body weight and obesity have, in general, shown that…physically active and fit individuals are considerably less likely to develop obesity than physically inactive and unfit individuals.”

“…the direct costs of a lifetime of inactivity among Americans may be as high as $24 billion per year (Colditz 1999). This figure, however, does not account for the economic costs associated with frailty and loss of physical function among older people, and so it actually may underestimate the true economic burden of a sedentary lifestyle.”

Physical Activity and Health is the first textbook to bring together the results of the most important studies in this rapidly changing field and offers a detailed yet concise presentation of key concepts. Written by Claude Bouchard, Steven Blair, and William Haskell, recognized experts in the field, this book completely integrates and examines the relationship between physical activity and health by

• highlighting the differences in the effects of physical activity on fitness across age, gender, and ethnic groups;
• describing how various systems of the human body respond to physical activity;
• illustrating the relationship between physical activity and health concerns such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and mental health; and
• suggesting new directions for research in this growing and changing field.

The text explains the latest advances in understanding the effects of acute and chronic participation in physical activity and reviews the relationships between regular physical activity and health outcomes, including cardiovascular morbidities, mental health, and all-cause mortality. It also focuses on the prevention of diseases, quality of life, and well-being.

Some of the finest scientists in the field from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia collaborated on this comprehensive resource. Readers can feel confident that they are receiving the most accurate information currently available on physical activity and health in any textbook.

For a table of contents, more information about the authors, and ordering information, visit the Human Kinetics Web site at www.HumanKinetics.com.