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Physical Activity
Practical Tips for Physical Activity Counseling
➤ For individuals with overweight or obesity, healthcare
professionals should highlight the extensive health benefits of PA
in addition to its role in weight management.
• Establishing realistic expectations is essential since minimal to
modest weight loss is generally anticipated f rom PA alone.
➤ Plans should follow the FITTE principle — Frequency, Intensity,
Time, Type, and Enjoyment — with intensity quantified in METs.
➤ Adaptive activity programs should be customized to address
the specific needs and abilities of individuals with disabilities or
mobility limitations.
➤ In addition to structured exercise (EAT), healthcare professionals
can assist patients in enhancing their leisure-time activities, such
as dancing and noncompetitive sports, while also integrating
more NEAT.
➤ Before initiating a new program, a medical evaluation should
be conducted to assess an individual's functional capacity,
knowledge, readiness, goals, safety, and potential barriers.
➤ Clinicians should consider the impact of physical activity on
hunger and food intake.
Assessing Activity
➤ Self-reported methods for assessing physical activity include
logs, recalls, and screening tools.
• The Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS) is a two-item screening
questionnaire that asks about the number of days per week and
the number of minutes per day engaged in moderate-to-vigorous
exercise.
➤ Objective assessment of physical activity can include devices
such as pedometers, load transducers or foot-contact monitors,
accelerometers, heart rate monitors, and others.
• Technology-assisted devices such as smart watches have become
increasingly popular, but vary in accuracy.
➤ Quantifying sedentary time is a crucial part of the physical
activity history. Sedentary time is defined as any waking activity
with an expenditure of 1.5 METs or less.
• Examples include sitting, reading, driving, and watching television.
• Regardless of total physical activity levels, prolonged sedentary
time is independently associated with adverse health outcomes,
including increased all-cause mortality and higher risks of obesity,
cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cancer.
