Physical activity, exercise, and chronic diseases: A brief review

Abstract

Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide with increasing prevalence in all age groups, genders, and ethnicities. Most chronic disease deaths occur in middle-to low-income countries but are also a significant health problem in developed nations. Multiple chronic diseases now affect children and adolescents as well as adults. Being physically inactive is associated with increased chronic disease risk. Global societies are being negatively impacted by the increasing prevalence of chronic disease which is directly related to rising healthcare expenditures, workforce complications regarding attendance and productivity, military personnel recruitment, and academic success. However, increased physical activity (PA) and exercise are associated with reduced chronic disease risk. Most physiologic systems in the body benefit positively from PA and exercise by primary disease prevention and secondary disease prevention/treatment. The purpose of this brief review is to describe the significant global problem of chronic diseases for adults and children, and how PA and exercise can provide a non-invasive means for added prevention and treatment.

Keywords: Cancer; Cardiovascular disease; Chronic disease; Diabetes; Exercise; Noncommunicable diseases; Obesity; Physical activity.

Fig. 1

Global Causes of Death. Global causes of death have shifted from communicable to non-communicable diseases. As communicable disease prevention and treatment has improved, deaths caused by non-communicable disease have increased and continues to rise. The information for developing this figure was taken from Murray and Lopez. The Lancet. 1997 and Naghavi et al., The Lancet. 2017.

Fig. 2

Chronic Disease Trends. Chronic disease trends from 2002 to 2010 and an estimation for 2030 including A) Cardiovascular disease, B) type 2 diabetes, C) obesity, and D) cancer in the United States, Brazil, Germany, and China. Figure taken from Durstine, Gordon, Wang, Luo. J Sport Health Sci. 2013. (Permission obtained).

Fig. 3

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Children - 2013. Overweight and obesity prevalence varies between countries and cultures of the world. In 2013, Egypt and Costa Rica had the highest prevalence of young obese girls while Chile and Israel have the highest prevalence of young obese boys. The information for developing this figure was taken from Ng et al., The Lancet. 2014.

Fig. 4

Youth Type 2 Diabetes Incidence in the United States. The increase in Type 2 diabetes incidence in youth. The information for developing this figure was taken from Mayer-Davis et al. NEJM. 2017.

Fig. 5

Childhood Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates in the United States. Incidence and Mortality rates in childhood cancer in the US between 2000 and 2015, including all types of cancer between the ages of 0–19 years, both male and female patients of all races and ethnicities. The data provided for developing this figure was taken from The United States Cancer Statistics [1999–2015] at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.