Trends of health‐related physical activity in Finland: 10‐year follow‐up of an adult cohort in eastern Finland

Abstract

The health‐related physical activity of Finns was studied during the 1980s by analysing changes in activity in a 10‐year follow‐up of a representative population cohort aged 20–65 years at the onset of the study. The proportion of apparently healthy people exercising at least twice a week for fitness and health increased from about 40% to over 50%. The increase was particularly large among women and young people. Occupational physical activity, education and marital status did not affect the trends. In contrast, regular vigorous exercise remained unchanged. These findings are consistent with other observations showing a steady increase in health‐related physical activity among adult Finns during the past 20 years. However, in terms of the health potential of exercise, a majority of the population remains less than optimally active.