Health-enhancing physical activity - An ideal public health measure?

Health-enhancing physical activity (HE-PA) meets the criteria of an ideal public health measure well if not perfectly. However, the potential of HEPA is only partly in use causing enormous burden to the health of populations. HEPA has many favourable characteristics for successful promotion, but vast experience shows that large increase of HEPA requires systematic long-term efforts that involve multiple partners to work in close collaboration. Even in the best cases the results will developed slowly and usually in lesser degree than expected. A great immediate challenge for the researchers, practitioners, planners, and decision makers is to develop and implement more effective means of HEPA promotion.