More healthcare providers advising patients to exercise
Friday, February 10, 2012
Between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of adults receiving advice to exercise from a physician or other healthcare professional rose about 10 points, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By 2010, about one in three adults (32.4%) who had seen a physician or other healthcare professional in the past 12 months had been advised to begin or continue to do exercise or physical activity, up from a rate of 22.6% in 2000, according to a data brief from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
“Research points to the benefits of physical activity for reducing the risk of chronic health conditions,” the researchers wrote. “Engaging in regular physical activity can reduce medication dependence, help maintain functional independence and improve the quality of life for older adults.
“Physicians and other health professionals can be influential sources of health information, and exercise counseling by primary care physicians has been shown to increase patients’ participation in physical activity.”
At each time point measured — 2000, 2005 and 2010 — women were more likely than men to have been advised to exercise.
Among adults ages 85 and over, the percentage receiving advice to exercise nearly doubled from 15.3% to 28.9%. Increases were less dramatic for younger age groups, such as ages 18 to 24, which increased from 10.4% in 2000 to 16.1% in 2010.
The percentage increased among all race/ethnicity groups, with the largest increase among Hispanic adults — from 20.8% in 2000 to 35.8% in 2010.
Receiving advice to exercise increased for adults with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Of adults with those conditions, those with diabetes were most likely to have been advised to exercise. In 2010, more than half of adults with diabetes were advised to exercise, compared with a little more than a third of adults with cancer.
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