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WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Aerobic physical activity | Activity in which the body’s large muscles move in a rhythmic manner for a sustained period of time. Aerobic activity – also called endurance activity – improves cardiorespiratory fitness. Examples include walking, running, swimming, and bicycling. |
| Anaerobic physical activity | Anaerobic physical activity consists of brief intense bursts of exercise, such as weightlifting and sprints, where oxygen demand surpasses oxygen supply. |
| Balance training | Static and dynamic exercises that are designed to improve an individual’s ability to withstand challenges from postural sway or destabilizing stimuli caused by self-motion, the environment, or other objects. |
| Body mass index (BMI) | Weight (kg) / height (m) 2 |
| BMI-for-age or BMI z-score | BMI adjusted for age, standardized for children. BMI standard deviation scores are measures of relative weight adjusted for child age and sex. Given a child’s age, sex, BMI, and an appropriate reference standard, a BMI z-score (or its equivalent BMI-for-age percentile) can be determined. |
| Bone-strengthening activity | Physical activity primarily designed to increase the strength of specific sites in bones that make up the skeletal system. Bone-strengthening activities produce an impact or tension force on the bones that promotes bone growth and strength. Running, jumping rope, and lifting weights are examples of bone-strengthening activities. |
| Cardiometabolic health | The interplay of blood pressure, blood lipids, blood glucose and insulin on health. |
| Cardiorespiratory fitness (endurance) | A health-related component of physical fitness. The ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen during sustained physical activity. Usually expressed as measured or estimated maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max). |
| Cognitive function | Cerebral activities, i.e. reasoning, memory, attention, and language that lead to the attainment of information and knowledge. This can also include learning. |
| Disability | From the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions, denoting the negative aspects of the interaction between an individual (with a health condition) and that individual’s contextual factors (environmental and personal factors). |
| Domains of physical activity | Physical activity levels can be assessed in various domains, including one of more of the following: leisure-time, occupation, education, household and/or transportation. |
| Exercise | A subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposeful in the sense that the improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness is the objective. “Exercise” and “exercise training” frequently are used interchangeably and generally refer to physical activity performed during leisure time with the primary purpose of improving or maintaining physical fitness, physical performance, or health. |
| Executive function | Includes constructs such as: working memory, cognitive flexibility (also called flexible thinking) and inhibitory control (which includes self-control). |
| Fitness | A measure of the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, and includes, for example, physical fitness and cardiorespiratory fitness. |
| Flexibility | A health- and performance-related component of physical fitness that is the range of motion possible at a joint. Flexibility is specific to each joint and depends on a number of specific variables including, but not limited to, the tightness of specific ligaments and tendons. Flexibility exercises enhance the ability of a joint to move through its full range of motion. |
| Functional exercises | Exercises that can be embedded into everyday tasks to improve lower-body strength, balance, and motor performance. Examples include tandem and one-leg stands, squatting, chair stands, toe raises, and stepping over obstacles. |
| Household domain physical activity | Physical activity undertaken in the home for domestic duties (such as cleaning, caring for children, gardening etc.). |
| Leisure-domain physical activity | Physical activity performed by an individual that is not required as an essential activity of daily living and is performed at the discretion of the individual. Such activities include sports participation, exercise conditioning or training, and recreational activities such as going for a walk, dancing, and gardening. |
| Light-intensity physical activity | Light-intensity physical activity is between 1.5 and 3 METs, i.e. activities with energy cost less than 3 times the energy expenditure at rest for that person. This can include slow walking, bathing, or other incidental activities that do not result in a substantial increase in heart rate or breathing rate. |
| Major muscle groups | Major muscle groups include the legs, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. |
| Metabolic equivalent of task (MET) | The metabolic equivalent of task, or simply metabolic equivalent, is a physiological measure expressing the intensity of physical activities. One MET is the energy equivalent expended by an individual while seated at rest. |
| Moderate-intensity physical activity | On an absolute scale, moderate-intensity refers to the physical activity that is performed between 3 and less than 6 times the intensity of rest. On a scale relative to an individual’s personal capacity, moderate-intensity physical activity is usually a 5 or 6 on a scale of 0–10. |
| Muscle-strengthening activity | Physical activity and exercise that increase skeletal muscle strength, power, endurance, and mass (e.g. strength training, resistance training, or muscular strength and endurance exercises). |
| Multicomponent physical activity | For older adults, multicomponent physical activity is important to improve physical function and decrease the risk of falls or injury from a fall. These activities can be done at home or in a structured group setting. Many studied interventions combine all types of exercise (aerobic, muscle strengthening, and balance training) into a session, and this has been shown to be effective. An example of a multicomponent physical activity programme could include walking (aerobic activity), lifting weights (muscle strengthening), and incorporates balance training. Examples of balance training can include walking backwards or sideways or standing on one foot while doing an upper body muscle-strengthening activity, such as bicep curls. Dancing also combines aerobic and balance components. |
| Occupation domain physical activity | See work domain physical activity. |
| Physical activity | Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. |
| Physical inactivity | An insufficient physical activity level to meet present physical activity recommendations. |
| Psychosocial health | Include mental, emotional and social dimensions of health. |
| Recreational screen time | Time spent watching screens (television (TV), computer, mobile devices) for purposes other than those related to education/study or work. |
| Sedentary screen time | Time spent watching screen-based entertainment (TV, computer, mobile devices). Does not include active screen-based games where physical activity or movement is required. |
| Sedentary behaviour | Any waking behaviour characterized by an energy expenditure of 1.5 METS or lower while sitting, reclining, or lying. Most desk-based office work, driving a car, and watching television are examples of sedentary behaviours; these can also apply to those unable to stand, such as wheelchair users. The guidelines operationalize the definition of sedentary behaviour to include self-reported low movement sitting (leisure time, occupational, and total), television (TV viewing or screen time, and low levels of movement measured by devices that assess movement or posture). |
| Sport | Sport covers a range of activities performed within a set of rules and undertaken as part of leisure or competition. Sporting activities involve physical activity carried out by teams or individuals and may be supported by an institutional framework, such as a sporting agency. |
| Transport domain physical activity | Physical activity performed for the purpose of getting to and from places, and refers to walking, cycling and wheeling (the use of non-motorized means of locomotion with wheels, such as scooters, rollerblades, manual wheelchair etc.). |
| Vigorous-intensity physical activity | On an absolute scale, vigorous-intensity refers to physical activity that is performed at 6.0 or more METS. On a scale relative to an individual’s personal capacity, vigorous-intensity physical activity is usually a 7 or 8 on a scale of 0–10. |
| Work domain physical activity | Physical activity undertaken during paid or voluntary work. |
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