Role of Primary Health Care in Physical Activity Promotion

Physical activity (PA) is healthy, and it offers a practical and safe means to decrease substantially the burden of diseases. However, due to lack of sufficient PA in most populations, this potential is in partial use only The health care system should support the patients and the population at large to increase their PA to sufficient level for health. The largest and most sustainable increase in PA would be gained by developing and implementing wide-ranging health promotion policies adapted to PA. However, currently the health care system and the primary health care (PHC) provide mainly individual services, e.g. counseling on PA. Even these services are not however, used widely by the PHC due partly to attitudes but mainly to practical obstacles. PA counseling can be incorporated in the routine work of the PHC, and there are feasible means to improve the quality and increase the use of PA counseling. However, in order to get PA promotion services offered widely by the PHC, two fundamental changes are needed. First, PA and especially systematic exercise training should be considered as a means belonging to the repertoire of PHC, comparable to pharmaceuticals. The Exercise is Medicine Initiative is working towards this goal. Second, the leading medical experts as well as the major scientific and professional organizations within the health sector should accept PA as an inherent and effective means to further their goals.