those who are physically active and exercise frequently have lower morbidity and mortality from all-cause mortality, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and colon cancer. Physical activity and exercise are recognized for their benefits in improving mental health and quality of life. Furthermore, it has been shown that physical activity in daily life, such as walking, is effective in reducing bedriddenness and death in the elderly 1,2,4,5).
Effects such as prevention of lifestyle-related diseases increase with an increase in the amount of physical activity (total of "intensity of physical activity" x "time spent")3). In the long term, even just walking for 10 minutes several times a day can be expected to have health benefits. All physical activities, including housework, garden work, daily living activities such as walking to work, hobbies and leisure activities, and exercise and sports, are now considered essential to good health.
Physical Activity・Exercise
In Japan, there are few long-term chronological surveys on physical activity and exercise, but it is clear that the amount of physical activity has declined due to the automation of housework and work and the development of means of transportation. is one of the causes of the recent increase in lifestyle-related diseases.
Although knowledge about the effects of physical activity and exercise on health is spreading among the public, the percentage of people who actually exercise is small. It is necessary to provide a method and create an environment in which many people can exercise comfortably in their daily lives.
Basic policy
The goal is to improve people's awareness and attitudes toward physical activity and exercise, and to increase the amount of physical activity.
In order to promote physical activity and exercise, we will grasp the current status of those who have awareness and attitudes toward physical activity in their daily lives, the number of steps taken per day, and exercise habits, and set numerical targets based on this.
It is necessary to incorporate physical activity into daily life. For this practice, it is necessary to raise awareness of physical activity and exercise as a preliminary step.
According to the 1996 Survey on Health and Welfare Trends, 52.6% of men and 52.8% of women said that they "exercise consciously in order to maintain and improve their health in their daily lives." This indicates the awareness of physical activity/exercise, such as ``doing as much as possible'', along with the practice of physical activity/exercise.
Aiming to improve awareness of physical activity and exercise and increase the number of people who incorporate physical activity into their daily lives, we aim to increase the number of both men and women by 10%.
Goals for awareness of physical activity/exercise Increase in the number of people who regularly engage in exercise, such as conscious movement, to maintain and improve their health: both men and women 63% Standard value: Male 52.6%, Female 52.8% (1996 Health and Welfare Trend Survey)
A concrete means of increasing the amount of physical activity in daily life is to try to increase physical activity centered on walking. Among health-promoting devices, 16.7% of those aged 20 and older actually use a pedometer, and especially among middle-aged and elderly people, one in three to four uses it (1996 health promotion survey). awareness survey), setting a target number of steps is useful as a guideline for individuals to work on.
Based on the results of an epidemiological study that examined the relationship between the amount of physical activity and mortality6), it is considered ideal to secure 10,000 steps per day (Note). The average number of steps taken by Japanese people is 8,202 steps per day for men and 7,282 steps for women. ). Considering the increasing trend in the number of steps taken in the last 10 years, the goal for the next 10 years is to increase the number of steps by 1,000 steps for both men and women, and aim for an average number of steps per day of 9,200 steps for men and 8,300 steps for women.
1,000 steps is the number of steps obtained by walking for about 10 minutes, and corresponds to a distance of 600-700m. As a result, 37% of men and 30% of women are expected to walk more than 10,000 steps a day.Increasing physical activity, especially walking, is expected to reduce the incidence of lifestyle-related diseases by several percent (reference data).
(Note) Basis for 10,000 steps a day
International literature recommends physical activity equivalent to energy consumption of 2,000 kcal per week (approximately 300 kcal per day) 6). When a person weighing 60 kg walks for 10 minutes (700 m, 1,000 steps) at a speed of 4 km/h (70 m/min) and a stride length of 70 cm, using the formula presented by the American College of Sports Medicine for calculating energy expenditure during walking. , the energy consumption is 30 kcal. In other words, energy consumption of 300 kcal per day is equivalent to 10,000 steps.
