Physical activity recommendations

In 1953, the Lancet published two pioneering papers by the late great Professor Jeremiah 'Jerry' Morris that have shaped the field of physical activity (PA) epidemiology as we know it today (Morris, Heady, Raffle, Roberts, & Parks, 1953a, 1953b). The London Transport Workers Study was one of the first to show that the incidence of cardiac events was related to occupational physical (in)activity. Sedentary London Transport Authority bus drivers were at higher risk of coronary heart disease than their more active conductor colleagues. Similar findings were observed between active postal workers and sedentary telephonists. It has been over 65 years since these seminal papers and the body of evidence linking physical inactivity to non-communicable disease has grown in size and strength, including the important recognition of this relationship in children and young people (Carson et al., 2016; Riopel et al., 1986; Strong et al., 2005; Tarp et al., 2018). Chapters 5 – 7 outline the physical/physiological, mental, and cognitive and academic benefits of PA.