For many years I have been writing out the minimum recommended daily activities that my patients should be doing each day and week. In other words how much puffed and loaded exercise.
Observational studies show that sedentary lifestyles (little or no leisure time, household, or occupational physical activity) are associated with increased risks for many chronic diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis, and that increased levels of physical activity can reduce these risks.
Despite the well-established benefits of exercise, only about 20 percent of adults achieve the recommended level of moderate physical activity: 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week. Only 15 percent of adults achieved a vigorous level of physical activity for 20-minutes on three days of the week.
I decided to put the recommendations into my electronic script writer. I now just print out a script and ask my patient to take what it says as recommended. I occasionally get a call from a Pharmacist saying ‘how do I give Mrs …. a tablet that will make her do 30 minutes puffed exercise four days a week?”
I just smile. At least one out of five is doing what is recommended. On the recommendations list is your age/sex exercise prescription.