Attributable DALYs due to physical inactivity for ischaemic heart disease, ischaemic stroke, type II diabetes, colon cancer and breast cancer (Bull et al., 2004)

Remarks

Data are from the Comparative quantification of health risks WHO study (Bull et al., 2004). For physical activity a trichotomous variable was used:

• Level 1 (inactive): doing no or very little physical activity at work, at home, for transport or in discretionary time.
• Level 2 (insufficiently active): doing some physical activity but less than Level 3.
• Level 3: (sufficiently active): at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 60 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity a week accumulated across work, home, transport or descretionary domains.

Studies from 1996-2001 reporting large, nationally representative samples with a wide age range were used where available and additionally studies with smaller samples were used to estimate 'exposure'. The relationships of physical inactivity and disease were estimated from the large body of scientific evidence linking physical inactivty with a wide range of cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and mental health outcomes.