Where can you find all there is to know about the health impact of physical activity?  In the 683-page Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, 2008, a comprehensive compilation of the review of the current scientific literature in exercise and physical activity.  The document is the end product of a year’s work by a blue ribbon panel of scientists who combed through thousands of research articles to tease out the relation of physical activity to physical and mental health outcomes, to quantify just how much physical activity is needed to provide health benefits, and to identify areas in which more research is needed.  The committee’s report provided the basis for the recently released, first ever, Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans that was discussed earlier in this blog.

In the Advisory Committee’s report you will find a summary of the relation of physical activity to:

• All-cause mortality
• Cardiocascular disease
• Diabetes and other metabolic diseases
• Energy balance
• Bone and joint
• Functional health
• Cancer
• Mental health

Also included are extensive reviews of the literature on physical activity and youth, the safety of physical activity, and physical activity in special population such as pregnant and postpartum women and people with physical or cognitive disabilities. 

Of particular interest to the Stand Up & Eat outreach web site is the role of physical activity in energy balance.  We will address that component of the report in-depth in next week’s blog.

In the meantime, how could you use the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report in your life or work?