Dr Kate Little has recently been appointed as a GP Clinical Champion for Physical Activity for SE England. She discusses the health benefits of physical activity and the health risks of being sedentary, sharing some ideas around how we as clinicians could have conversations with our patients to encourage them to be more active and how this might reduce the national pill burden and dramatically improve peoples’ physical and emotional wellbeing.
There is now a vast amount of evidence showing that by getting people active we can significantly improve morbidity and mortality in the UK (better than most drugs we prescribe), as well as saving the NHS up to 15% of its total budget. For example, by getting the most inactive people moderately active, there is a 3-year difference in life expectancy. The stats are pretty compelling.
Physical inactivity is one of the top ten non-communicable causes of mortality globally and one of the top ten causes of ill health in England
