Are we becoming a nation of ‘couch potatoes’? New findings show that only ten per cent of young people in the UK get the one hour a day of exercise that experts say is necessary. And the number of people who are overweight or obese is rising at an alarming rate. Chapter one of this book reveals the scale of the problem in the UK, particularly among young people. Chapter two looks at a range of issues relating to exercise and diet.
The information comes from a wide variety of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Our Fitness Problem
90% of children ‘set to be couch potatoes’, TV link to obese children, How many people are obese?, Obesity among children under 11, Childhood obesity, Children’s diets, Call for Jamie Oliver of the gym, Avoiding childhood obesity, Obesity, Obesity: the scale of the problem, Half of Britain fed up with healthy eating do-gooders!, 48 million adults unaware of health time bomb, Being overweight is good for your health, says study, The question, Being overweight can impede job prospects, Snacking at work blamed for unfit employees, Facts about coronary heart disease.
Chapter Two: Getting Fit
Get active!, Why exercise is wise, Getting fit, Physical activity, Physical exercise, Student fitness, Exercise beats the blues, When it comes to exercise, is less more?, Eat well, The truth about fad diets, Exercise and your heart, Motivation, The gym, Compulsive exercise, The benefits of exercise.
Key Facts
Additional Resources
Index
Acknowledgements
• Only 10 per cent of young people get the one hour a day of physical activity that ministers, health experts and scientists say is necessary. (page 1)
• Globally more than 1 billion adults are overweight and 300 million adults are obese. Approximately 17.6 million children are overweight worldwide. (page 2)
• Many obese teenagers could face heart attacks in their 40s, according to the medical director of the British Heart Foundation. (page 5)
• People gain weight when the body takes in more calories than it burns off. Those extra calories are stored as fat. (page 9)
• It is estimated that about 36% of deaths from coronary heart disease in men and 38% of deaths in women are due to lack of physical activity. (page 20)
• With cars on most driveways and the decline in the number of physically active jobs, 70% of the adult population is sufficiently inactive to be classed as ‘sedentary’. (page 25)
• It’s estimated that almost half of all gym recruits return to the sofa within a year. (page 36)
Fitness and Health Study Guide
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.50
ISBN: 978 1 86168 358 8
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