AHA 2018 | New Physical Activity Guidelines Recommend Movement for All Ages

The new 2018 physical activity guidelines continue to recommend the same amount of physical activity (300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week or 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity), but they have changed which adults can carry out this moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity. Additionally, instead of recommending a target number of minutes of exercise per week, they simply encourage people to move more and sit less.

Everybody can improve their health dramatically by simply moving. At any time, in any place, and with any activity.

Physical inactivity accounts for 10% of premature deaths in the United States. If just one-quarter of the people who do not carry out physical activity started moving, this would prevent 75,000 deaths each year in the US and 1,300,000 deaths worldwide.

According to the most recent estimates, just 26% of men, 19% of women, and 20% of adolescents get enough physical activity per week.

Read also: AHA 2018 | Endocarditis Prophylaxis More Limited after AHA 2007 Guidelines.

The main investigator for this study went so far as to comment that the lack of physical activity is a matter of national security because obesity disqualifies nearly one-third of the American population, aged 17 to 24 years, from military service.

Original title: The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Reference: Percy KL et al. JAMA. 2018; Epub ahead of print.

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