Transcript No Slide Title

Thriving in turbulent times- can
physical activity help us cope?
Nanette Mutrie
Professor of Exercise and Sport
Psychology, University of
Strathclyde, Glasgow
Director of the Scottish Physical
Activity Research Collaboration
(www.sparcoll.org.uk)
World Health Organisation 2004
Global Strategy for Diet and Physical Activity
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Appropriate regular physical activity is a major
component in preventing the growing global
burden of chronic disease.
At least 60% of the global population fails to
achieve the minimum recommendation of 30
minutes moderate intensity physical activity daily
(60 minutes for children).
The risk of getting most major diseases
increases by around 2 times in people who do not
follow minimum physical activity
recommendations.
What can be done- WHO 2004
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Increasing physical activity is a societal, not just an
individual problem, and demands a population-based, multisectoral, multi-disciplinary, and culturally relevant approach.
Opportunities for people to be physically active exist in the
four major domains of their day:
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At work (whether or not the work involves manual labour).
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For transport (walking or cycling to work, to shop etc).
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During domestic duties (housework, gathering fuel etc).
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In leisure time (sports and recreational activities).
In Scotland we have a physical activity policy ‘let’s make
Scotland more active’
–
By 2022 50% of adults will meet minimum recommendations
Technological advances and
changing lifestyles
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Fewer active jobs
Greater reliance on motorised transport
Energy-saving devices in the home, at work
and shopping environment
Attractive and cheap home screen
entertainment
lifestyle activity has been engineered
out of our lives…
What do we mean by regular physical
activity? – Adults
(from ‘let’s make Scotland more active’)
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For general health benefit, adults should achieve a
total of at least 30 minutes a day of at least
moderate intensity physical activity on 5 or more
days of the week.
The recommended levels of activity can be
achieved either by doing all the daily activity in
one session, or through several shorter bouts of
activity of 10 minutes or more. The activity can be
lifestyle activity or structured exercise or sport
or a combination of these.
Physical Activity and Good Mental Health
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The feel good effect
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Biddle, S. J. H., & Mutrie, N.
(2008). Psychology of physical
activity: determinants, wellbeing, and interventions (2nd
edition ed.). London:
Routledge.
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People report that being active
makes them ‘feel good’
People who are regularly active ‘feel
worse’ when they are not active
Large scale surveys and experimental
studies show that activity is
positively linked to psychological well
being
Self esteem is higher among active
children than non active children
Cognitive function improves for older
adults who begin to exercise
People who remain regularly active
have less risk of age related
cognitive decline
Turbulent times are stressful
times
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somatic: headaches, muscle
tension, back pain, dry
mouth, heart racing, going
‘red’, exhaustion...…...
cognitive: worrying,
doubting, fearing, poor
concentration,
panicking.......................
behavioural: poor sleep,
eating badly, drinking too
much, stop exercising,
irritable, poor time-keeping
................……...
Physical activity (PA) could be a
‘stress buster’
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moderate PA can reduce stress indices
–
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BP, HR, RR, Adrenaline, stress hormones
active people recover from stressful events more
quickly than less active people - homeostasis
PA can provide a positive distraction from work and
other stresses
PA is associated with good mental health and
positive mood states
PA can make you feel better about yourself
PA can help some people sleep better
Some evidence
Walking for Well-being in the West
Purpose of WWW
• A recent review we published in the British
Medical Journal examined the different ways in
which walking can be promoted
• One way was pedometers
• Lack of long term
findings
Ogilvie, D., Foster, C. E., Rothnie, H., Cavill, N.,
Hamilton, V., Fitzsimons, C. F., & Mutrie, N.,
on behalf of Scottish Physical Activity
Research Collaboration,. (2007).
Interventions to promote walking: systematic
review. BMJ, 334, 1204-1207.
12-week Results
step-counts
Mean daily step-counts
10000
Steps/day
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Week 12
Baseline
Time-point
Intervention
Control
Intervention group
Significant increase of 3,175 steps/day
12-week Results
health related outcomes
Mean positive affect scores
35
Mean score
33
31
29
27
25
Baseline
Week 12
Time-point
Intervention
Control
Well-being
over 12 months
Best
imaginable
health state
100
90
80
Average health score over 12 months
Score (out of 100)
70
78
60
76
74
50
72
40
70
30
68
20
66
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
32
Time
All people
36
40
44
48
52
10
0
Worst
imaginable
Preventing Poor Mental Health and Providing
a Therapeutic Role in Chronic Disease
States
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Several epidemiological studies show a
protective effect for PA on depression
Physical activity has been shown to improve
quality of life for those coping with:
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Mental health problems
Type ii diabetes
Cardiac Rehab
Pregnancy
Alcohol abuse
Breast cancer
Mutrie & Faulkner, 2004
in Linley and Joseph
(Eds) Positive psychology
in practice. Wiley:NJ
Quotes from focus groups:
Emslie, C., Whyte, F., Campbell, A., Mutrie, N., Lee, L., Ritchie, D.,
Kearney, N. (2007). “I wouldn’t have been interested in just sitting
round a table talking about cancer”; exploring the experiences of women
with breast cancer in a group exercise trial Health Education Research,
2007 available on line.
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Perceived benefits of the exercise intervention
You felt better after it.. lifted. I just felt generally
that my health had improved in that hour. Aye, I
think I was on a high possibly! (Respondent 3, group
3, intervention arm)
I might have had to crawl down (to the class) but when
I came out after it was over I felt totally different.
I had so much more energy. (Respondent 1, group 6,
intervention arm)
How can this happen?
The somatopsychic rationale
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Psychosomatic rationales
suggest that the mind can
influence the body
Somatopsychic suggests the
other way round- the body
influences how we think and
feel
So there may be a
somatopsychic rationale for
psychological benefit from
being physically active
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Mens sana in corpore sano
William James (1899) ‘our muscular
vigor will…always be needed to furnish
the background of sanity,and
cheerfulness to life, to give moral
elasticity to our dispositions, to round
off the wiry edge of our fretfulness,
and make us good-humoured
Neuroscience: being physically active
increases neurotransmission, releases
mood enhancing substances
(endorphins, serotonin), changes the
pattern of brain activity
Technological advances and
changing lifestyles
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Fewer active jobs
Greater reliance on motorised transport
Energy-saving devices in the home, at work
and shopping environment
Attractive and cheap home screen
entertainment
Eight million years
20 years!
Social psychology
Individual psychology
Individual
physical
activity
Food production
Food consumption
Physiology
Physical activity
environment
What can we do?
 Do
some more
walking every
day
 Find activities
that are fun
to do
Walking Goals
• Week 1 and 2:
– an additional 1,500 steps at least 3 days/week
• Week 3 and 4:
– increase to 5 days/week
•
Week 5 and 6:
– an additional 3,000 steps on at least 3
days/week
• Week 7:
– increase to 5 days/week
• Week 8-12:
– maintain week 7
Paths to Health train walk leaders
“One of my greatest achievements was completing the Walk
Leader training last year”
John, Walkaboutabit, Islay
“Its not only the physical health reasons that make walking so
good for everyone but also the benefits to your inner self by
sharing our beautiful countryside with other like-minded
people”
Danny, Renfrewshire walks, Renfrewshire
“Walking keeps you young and allows you to do other things.
It’s pure, dead, brilliant”
Chris, Next Steps, Blairgowrie
Conclusions And Discussion
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Physical activity can help some of
the pressing issues of these
‘turbulent times’
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You can start by
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Stress management
Improving physical and mental
health
Obesity prevention
increasing the amount of walking
you do
find some fun in your activity
sessions!
Over to Sharon McNeish
[[email protected]]