Overview

Regular physical activity and a healthy diet are important factors in maintaining a healthy weight. Ensuring that you get enough exercise is also an important factor in preventing and managing chronic illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

More reports and statistics on physical activity can be found under Food & nutrition and Overweight & obesity.

Latest findings

2.6% of the total disease burden in 2011 was due to physical inactivity When physical inactivity is combined with overweight and obesity the burden increases to 9%; equal to tobacco smoking Physical inactivity responsible for 10–20% of burden for related diseases 1 in 4 (25%) adults aged 65 and over did 30 minutes of physical activity on 5 or more days More Indigenous children aged 5–17 met the physical activity guideline than non-Indigenous children aged 5–17 48% of adults aged 18–64 met the physical activity guideline and 24% met the strength-based activity guideline 30% of children aged 2–17 and 44% of adults aged 18 and over met the physical activity guideline 13% of physical inactivity burden could be reduced if everyone did an extra 15 minutes of brisk walking, 5 days/week 1.7 times higher rate of physical inactivity burden in the lowest socioeconomic group compared with the highest

Latest reports

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Highlights