Physical Activity Prescription Organization

According to Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease, the beneficial aspects of physical activity can be seen on people of all ages.

Children and young people

• Effects on aerobic fitness: factors determined aerobic fitness improve when a person get older. Even though, the forming process is already trainable by children or adolescent.

• Effects on muscle strength: children increase their muscle power by 14-30 percent through strength training with no heavy loads needed.

• Effects on cognitive function: children with cognition problem who receive extra motor training show improvement in subjects at school.

• Effects on mood and mental health: Physical activity promotes positive self-esteem and has influence on anxiety and depression.

• Effects on the skeleton: weight-bearing physical activity increase Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and skeleton girth which related to reducing risk of fracture in the future.

• Effects on obesity and risk factors for cardiovascular disease: young people with increased physical activity not only reduce weight better but also decrease their risk of cardiovascular diseases as an adult.

Pregnancy

• Preeclampsia/pregnancy toxaemia: regular physical activity with adequate intensity reduce the risk of preeclampsia.

• Gestational diabetes: further studies are needed to point out the relation between physical activity and gestational diabetes.

• Obesity: pregnant women with physical activity added in custom healthcare have less weight gain in a case-study.

• Back and/or pelvic pain: aquarobic and stabilizing exercise appear to relief back and pelvis pain during pregnancy.

• Urinary incontinence: several studies show “significant effect” of physical activity on preventing urinary incontinence.

Menopause

• Reduces the chance of getting vegetative symptoms (hot flushes and sweats) which lead to better mood; other menopausal symptoms also appear to be less common in active women.

• Regular physical activity prevents the potential harm of bone loss process that happens quickly after menopause. Recommended exercises are weight-bearing exercise, aerobics, strength training. 

• Risks of cardiovascular diseases or developing cancer are reduced in menopausal women performing intensive exercise.

Elderly

• Cardiovascular function: light to moderate aerobic exercise can have the same improvement in compare with pharmaceutical treatment.

• Muscle function and strength training: As in younger people, strength training has a positive effect improving muscle power in the elderly, reaching 50-200 percent increase of muscle power.

• Balance, flexibility and walking ability: balance, flexibility, coordination training help improve mobility and prevent falling (major risk of fracture).

• Psychological function and quality of life: numbers of study show relation between physical activity and cognitive function, depression.