Sedentary habits have been identified as a major public health problem in many countries. The timely Physical Activity and Health addresses an unmet need by providing a comprehensive treatment of the relationship between physical activity and health outcomes.
Physical Activity and Health is the first textbook to bring together the results of the most important studies in this rapidly changing field and offers a detailed yet concise and clear presentation of key concepts. The text provides a conceptual framework to help readers relate results from single studies or collections of studies to the overall paradigm linking physical activity and physical fitness to health.
Written by Claude Bouchard and other leading scientists from around the world, this richly illustrated textbook offers information unmatched in accuracy and reliability. Where other books have simply promoted physical activity for the individual or a population, this book completely integrates and examines the relationship between physical activity and health by
-providing a history of physical activity, including how levels of physical activity have changed over time and how this has affected the overall health of society;
-highlighting the differences in the effects of physical activity on fitness across age, gender, and ethnic groups;
-describing how various systems of the human body respond to physical activity;
-illustrating the relationship between physical activity and health concerns such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and mental health;
-offering guidance for determining the proper amount and type of exercise to be undertaken; and
-suggesting new directions for research in this growing and changing field.
The text explains the latest advances in understanding the effects of acute and chronic participation in physical activity and reviews the relationships between regular physical activity and health outcomes, including cardiovascular morbidities, mental health, and all-cause mortality. It also focuses on the prevention of diseases, quality of life, and well-being.
The textbook offers the following features:
-Chapter outlines that provide a user-friendly, conceptual framework
-Key concepts, definitions, and study questions that simplify the review process
-179 illustrations, 54 tables, and 51 photographs that clarify the text and emphasize key concepts
Physical Activity and Health is organized into five parts. Part I defines the basic concepts, traces the history of the field, and summarizes evidence accumulated on the relationship between levels of physical activity and fitness and variations with age, between genders, and among ethnic groups. Part II describes the latest advances in understanding the effects of acute and chronic participation in physical activity. Part III reviews the relationships between regular physical activity and health outcomes—including cardiovascular morbidities, mental health, and all-cause mortality—and the levels of fitness and the same health outcomes. Part IV focuses on the “how” and deals with dose-response issues and types of exercise programs. Part V explores how advances in genetics challenge our understanding of the complex relationships between physical activity, fitness, and health. It offers a practical integration of all the issues discussed in the preceding chapters.
Some of the finest scientists in the field from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia collaborated on this comprehensive resource. Readers can feel confident that they are receiving the most accurate information currently available on physical activity and health in any textbook.
Claude Bouchard, PhD, is the executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, a campus of the Louisiana State University System, and holds the George A. Bray Jr. chair in nutrition. He was director of the Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory at Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, for over 20 years. Dr. Bouchard holds a BPed from Laval University, an MSc in exercise physiology from the University of Oregon at Eugene, and a PhD in population genetics from the University of Texas at Austin.
For four decades, his research has dealt with the role of physical activity, and the lack thereof, on physiology, metabolism, and indicators of health, taking into account genetic uniqueness. He has performed research on the contributions of gene sequence variation and the benefits to be expected from regular activity in terms of changes in cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors.
Dr. Bouchard has served as program leader for four consensus conferences and symposia pertaining to various aspects of physical activity and health. He has published more than 850 scientific papers and has edited four books and several monographs dealing with physical activity and health.
Dr. Bouchard is former president of the Canadian Society for Applied Physiology and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. He is president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (2002-2006), a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cooper Research Institute for the last decade.
Steven N. Blair, PED, is the president and CEO of the Cooper Institute and is one of the world's most eminent epidemiologists in the area of physical activity and health. Dr. Blair has three honorary doctorates, a 1994 doctor honoris causa from the Free University of Brussels; a 1996 doctor of health science, from Lander University; and a 2002 doctor of science honoris causa, from the University of Bristol, UK. He also is a Benjamin Meaker Fellow at the University of Bristol.
For nearly 40 years, he has researched and done public health work in the areas of physical activity and health. He has published more than 350 scientific articles, including one on fitness and mortality that has been cited over 1,100 times.
He is past president of the American College of Sports Medicine and a fellow in many organizations. He has received numerous honors, including the ACSM Honor Award. He was the senior scientific editor of the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health.
William Haskell, PhD, is emeritus professor of medicine at Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford School of Medicine. He holds an honorary MD degree from Linkoping University in Sweden.
For 40 years, his research has investigated the relationships between physical activity and health. He has been involved at the national and international levels in the development of physical activity and fitness guidelines and recommendations for physical activity in health promotion and disease prevention.
Dr. Haskell has served as principal investigator on major NIH-funded research projects demonstrating the health benefits of physical activity. For 11 years, he was a member of the planning committee and faculty for the CDC-sponsored research course on physical activity and public health. From 1968 to 1970, he was program director for the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
He is past president of the American College of Sports Medicine and founder and past president of the American College of Sports Medicine Foundation. He is a fellow with the Exercise and Rehabilitation Council, American Heart Association, and American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.
