Asthmatics' Physical Activity Level is Low

Asthmatics' Physical ActivityLevel Is Low

Asthma patients have some physicalwork to do. A report published

recently in Chest found thata majority of US adults with

asthma do not meet the currentnational recommendations for

leisure-time physical activity.People who do not have asthma,

however, are nearly as inactive.

"Little [was] known about thephysical activity patterns among

US adults who have asthma," wroteEarl S. Ford, MD, and his

associates at the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention

(CDC). For their study, theresearchers examined data on leisuretime

physical activity for 165,000 peoplewho participated in the

2000 Behavioral Risk FactorSurveillance System survey. They

discovered that 30% of the 12,500participants with asthma were

physically inactive, as well as 24%of 5000 people who used to

have asthma. About 27% of currentasthmatics met the suggested

level of physical activity, comparedwith 28% of both former

asthmatics and those who never hadasthma.

The CDC researchers noted that thisis the "most detailed and

largest examination of leisure-timephysical activity patterns

among US adults with asthma to date."The investigators concluded

that although the level of physicalactivity is similar to that

seen in nonasthmatics, "a slightlyhigher percentage of adults

with asthma are not meeting thenational recommendations for

physical activity."