Physical Activity and Health: Becoming Mainstream

Abstract

Complementary health practices and physical activity share some common origins. In the early stages of development, neither was widely practiced or recognized as a valuable contributor to health. Systematic research on physical activity and health began in the 1950s, focusing on occupational exertion. That work was criticized as methodologically flawed, leading in time to more controlled research, longitudinal studies, and the adoption of an exercise epidemiology model. In 1996, the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health clearly documented that physical activity reduced morbidity and mortality. Physical activity had become part of mainstream health and medicine. In 2002, the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy suggested ways of strengthening the growing body of evidence that supports a number of complementary health practices. With improved methodology, complementary health practices researchers can provide stronger documentation of the beneficial impact of those practices on health.