Exercise

Another way to integrate exercise into health care is to view it in light of its potential to reduce risk factors for chronic diseases. As shown in Table 2, the very large potential for exercise to act as a primary prevention tool is obvious from the kinds of risk factors and diseases listed. The major causes of morbidity and mortality (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, functional dependency, hip fracture, and dementia) in the older population, are all more prevalent in individuals who are sedentary as compared to more active peers.