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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine pp 1478–1481Cite as

Physical Activity Interventions

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Definition

Physical activity interventions primarily aim to encourage sedentary individuals or those at risk for chronic diseases to initiate and maintain healthy levels of activity. Secondary goals of interventions may include improved weight or disease management, enhanced psychological well-being and stress reduction, and better quality of life. There has been a recent concerted effort to examine changing multiple health behaviors (e.g., dietary, tobacco cessation) in combination with sedentary behaviors. Interventions are often evaluated in the context of a randomized clinical trial (efficacy trials) or quasi-experimental designs (effectiveness trials).

Description

Recently, the US government released its first formal set of recommendations on physical activity (PA), the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2008), thereby establishing increasing PA as a significant health goal for the twenty-first century. In...

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References and Readings

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of Minnesota Duluth, 320 Bohannon Hall. 1207 Ordean Court, 55812, Duluth, MN, USA

    Rick LaCaille Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Rick LaCaille Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Rick LaCaille Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc D. Gellman

  2. Cardiovascular Safety, Quintiles, Durham, NC, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York

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LaCaille, R. (2013). Physical Activity Interventions. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1618

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1618

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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