Consequences of Physical Inactivity Are Comparable to Those of Smoking or Obesity

In anticipation of the Olympic games in London, members of a research group assembled by The Lancet quantified the effect of physical inactivity on major noncommunicable diseases (coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast and colon cancers). To estimate how much disease could be prevented if physical inactivity were reduced or eliminated, the researchers used conservative assumptions to calculate population attributable fractions associated with physical inactivity for each disease by country. They also performed life-table analysis to estimate improvement in population-wide life expectancy.

Worldwide estimates of the burden of disease attributable to physical inactivity were as follows (median; see figure for distribution by regio…