PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS A FUNDAMENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION TOOL: IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH EDUCATION

PETER SUOKE ONOHWOSAFE

Volume : IX, Issue : III, March - 2020

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS A FUNDAMENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION TOOL: IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH EDUCATION

Peter Suoke Onohwosafe

Abstract :

In Nigeria, modern living is becoming sedentary. Physical activity is no longer part of the daily life, and the improvement of standards of living has added to the decline in the physiological working capacities of the various systems of the body. Numerous studies have shown that degenerative diseases, including heart diseases are more common in more or less sedentary persons. The focus of this paper is therefore on how regular exercise can become the key factor in maintaining a healthy body composition through physical activities, such as walking, vigorous running, and weightlifting, or sports, such as tennis, squash and gymnastic exercises. Physical fitness should be the fundamental rights of all people, age and sex notwithstanding. The paper suggests that the curriculum of medical and health education departments should be redesigned as to make exercise a form of preventive medicine.